That One Night
by DragonGecko18
Summary: A simple invitation for a drink turns into something a little more complicated- something that gets complicated even more when someone from Jenny's past shows up. (Set around 5x01)
1. Prologue

A/N: Okay... So, I had this new idea pop into my head a few days ago. And i really wanted to write about it. This is set at the beginning of season 5 if anybody is wondering. Please tell me what you think... Thanks guys!

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October 2007

Wrenching her guts into the toilet bowl every morning had become a daily ritual for Jenny Shepard. Not that she minded though… She deserved it. That's what she told herself anyway. Another wave of nausea swept over the woman and she felt the familiar sensation of old stomach acid burning up her throat.

Clenching the edge of the toilet seat with one hand and the other hand holding her short hair back, she leaned over and spat out the remainder of vomit that she could bring up. Regret… Lots of regret. She should have never let Jethro into her house that night- let alone her bed. What was she thinking? Did she think that he was just going to magically come back into her life and pretend that nothing had happened?

It was just like Paris again. That night. There was no Director and no special agent making love. It was a man and a woman. A man who had had a little too much bourbon to drink and a woman who felt a little too much sympathy for the man that she still loved.

Slowly getting up from the toilet, Jenny brushed down the creases on the pale white nightgown she was wearing. It had vomit stained on the bottom- Great. It had only happened for the tenth time in the past 4 days. The button was pressed and the usual gurgling sound of water flowing through pipes echoed on the tiles of the bathroom.

Jenny should have known that it was a mistake. Their whole relationship was a big fat mistake. And them sleeping together was definitely a huge mistake. People couldn't know… He couldn't know especially. What would she tell people? What would she tell Secnav? What would she tell him?

Lifting the slim nightgown off her lean body, she took a good hard look at her reflection in the mirror. Dark circles under her turquoise eyes; bones sticking out of her shoulders like ragged twigs on a tree. The spout of water gave way as the woman lifted up the tap and massaged her cold hands under the warm water. She wished that it would wash all her sins away…

Reaching for the towel right across from her, she dried her hands and turned sideways towards the door- still looking at the side profile of her waist. The white bra holding her breasts were bursting at the seams. It hurt. She unhatched the hook holding them in place and watched as the unusually large breasts expanded out.

She didn't want a baby. Never did. She had seen many people go through it growing up. It didn't look pretty- and didn't sound pretty. She knew nothing about becoming a mom. How would she cope? She wouldn't. Jenny glanced at her waist in the mirror. At least it wasn't that obvious- it was hardly a small lump.

Walking back into the cold bedroom, she fished in the wardrobe for something loose to wear to work. The bed wasn't made- as usual since he had left the morning after 'That night'. The curtains were tightly shut, and clothes were scattered all over the carpet. She wasn't usually this messy… But her lack of energy was a good excuse to not clean it up.

A black blazer revealed itself amongst all the items of clothing and she picked it off the coat hanger and lay it on the foot of the empty bed. She tried fishing around in the drawers next to the bed for a suitable bra that wouldn't be too tight. It was impossible though- Everything she saw was either a size too small or plain lingerie. She really needed to find some bigger bras…

After painfully squeezing herself into a small bra, Jenny preceded to put on a white blouse and black pencil skirt- followed by the heavy black blazer that she had found. Next thing was her hair- It was much knottier than usual. Tossing and turning in an empty bed for three weeks was impossible without having a sniff of the sawdust and alcohol still remnant on 'that' pillow.

Picking up the comb, Jenny brushed through her short hair. Why she had decided to have it pixie cut two years ago- she wouldn't understand. But at least it was growing back smoothly Jenny thought as she saw the slightly red locks hitting the top of her shoulder. Feeling an aching pain swarm up her arms, Jenny put the comb down carefully on her dresser and crossed her arms together- taking in her appearance in the mirror.

She didn't have the energy to tie it into a ponytail- besides, she was pretty certain that Jethro preferred it down over anything. Not that he'd notice though. They had been avoiding each other like the plague for the last three weeks. Jenny flashed back to the morning after…

_3 weeks ago,_

_Watching the man's naked body pick up the clothes they had casually thrown on the carpet the previous night sent a guilt raging through the redhead. They had made a mistake… Jethro stormed into the bathroom attached to her bedroom to get changed- not that it really mattered. The both of them had seen it all…_

_She heard the sighs and frustrations from the man as the shower tap turned on, revealing gushes of water shooting out. The bed was so warm- comfy. The woman couldn't muster the courage to get out of it. All it was, was just a few drinks. A celebration perhaps… Tony hadn't died. La Grenouille was somewhere out in the wilderness… Afraid for his life. Probably dead._

_Pulling the pillow he had been lying on close to her nose, Jenny inhaled his scent. Sawdust, sex and alcohol all mixing into one great scent. A few drinks… A few too many. Jenny corrected in her mind. Closing her eyes, she heard the alarm clock go off next to her- a loud ringing like a telephone. 05:30 it flashed. _

_Jenny smashed her hand over the clock and shushed it into silence; the faint sounds of running water returning to her ears. She got up and walked into the bathroom- leaning against the doorframe and watching the man that she loved showering. He had a scowl furrowed in his brow- she knew that scowl. That was the scowl she would get from him on their undercover missions when she did something wrong- as if everything was her own fault._

_He noticed her standing in the doorway and made eye contact with the blank expression in her green eyes- not bothering to close the shower curtain for his privacy. "What is this Jen?" Jethro asked with anger evident in his voice. She didn't wince as his voice bounced loudly off the tiled walls. What was it indeed?_

_She shifted the weight on her feet and crossed her arms together- breaking eye contact with Jethro. Suddenly the gushing water stopped, and the woman looked back up as he stepped out of the shower with her favourite blue towel tied tightly around his waist; the lone drops of water dripping one by one from the shower head. "What am I doing here?" Jethro asked getting in her face._

_The redhead could see the drops of water hanging on by threads on his aging face. Making eye contact with his steel blue eyes, she could see confusion and ire all mixed in. "We were having a drink." She stated simply- not elaborating further. _

"_This looks like more than drinking…" Jethro gestured to their naked bodies. Jenny looked down and realised that she hadn't any clothes on- She grabbed her dressing gown hanging on the door and wrapped it around her. She could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. Even though Jethro was one of the only men who had seen her naked a thousand times, he still had the power to make her blush about her own body._

_Jenny returned to the position she was in- plus the gown and gazed into his blue eyes. "You have a problem with that?" Jenny asked suggestively. The man wiped water from his forehead and rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. _

"_Yeah, I do!" The man shouted with ire. "Don't you see it Jen?" He paused for a moment. He didn't love her… He was pissed off at her. Probably still in love with Hollis Mann. And so, she shouldn't have been surprised… It had been a while since Paris… "We can't be doing… this…" Jethro barely whispered- gesturing at the state of the bedroom. Jenny moved from the position in the doorway with a frown on her face and chucked his pair of pants lying on the floor- that he forgot to pick up- at the man. He made no attempt at catching them and Jenny watched as they slipped down his body._

"_Never stopped you before." Jenny muttered as she sat down at the end of the bed- referring to their mission in Paris._

"_That was 9 years ago." _

"_8." Jenny corrected. She couldn't believe it- somehow, she had managed to get him into her bed and now he didn't want a bar of her._

"_Whatever." Jethro muttered angrily as he aggressively put his clothes back on. The redhead made no attempt of stopping him, unfortunately for her, one-night stands seemed to be her specialty._

"_How do you explain last night then?" She watched as he chucked the blue towel on the tiled floor. _

"_Intoxication." He stated simply and walked out of the bedroom. No goodbye. No resolution. Just anger. Typical._

_She couldn't help but let tears roll down her face as she heard the door slam loudly downstairs. Silence. Why couldn't love work out for her?_

Present Day…

As the elevator ascended, the waves of nausea returned to Jenny. Taking in a deep breath and counting to five, the redhead managed to make it subside for a mere moment. She gripped the railing tightly and kept breathing deeply. She had considered taking the day off from work, but she hated being away from her job. Plus, it made people suspicious, particularly Cynthia- her assistant.

The elevator opened and Jenny stepped out- quickly glancing over in the general direction of Jethro's desk. He wasn't there. The redhead breathed a sigh of relief- coming to work early when you felt like crap had its advantages.

As soon as Jenny reached her office, she placed down her bag by the door and ran into the bathroom attached to her office and threw up the water that she had consumed minutes earlier into the sink. Morning sickness sucked. Who even named it that anyway? She held her head over the sink a few minutes longer until she felt well enough to return to her desk.

Nobody knew about the pregnancy. Not even the father to be and Jenny intended to keep it that way. She heard a knock at the door- Cynthia. "Come in." Jenny beckoned. The woman with black curls and chocolate brown eyes opened the door to see the redhead placing her black blazer on the back of the chair.

"Morning Director. How are you?" Cynthia asked her. What Jenny didn't know was that the woman with black curls and chocolate brown eyes had noticed how fatigued the redhead had become over the last few days. She wouldn't dare mention anything to the woman though- unless she wanted her head snapped off.

Jenny took a moment to contemplate the question. _Not Great- Pregnancy is a bitch. _The woman wanted to say. "Fine. Anymore files been handed in?" Jenny said simply- changing the subject to work as usual. Cynthia nodded and temporarily disappeared behind the door to her desk. She returned holding a handful of field reports.

"Oh and… Director. Remember that you have a meeting with Secnav this afternoon." Cynthia said as she handed the load of files to the Director. Fear surged in Jenny- she had completely forgotten about the meeting with Secnav. Cynthia watched the Director as the blood seemed to drain from her face.

"Any chance that we can postpone it? I've just remembered that I have someplace else I need to be." Jenny said telling a little fib. Cynthia held a confused expression- it wasn't like Jenny to postpone very important meetings

"Are you sure Director? This meeting has been planned for months." Cynthia reasoned. Jenny waved her hands around in a frustrated manner.

"He's just coming to discuss budget cuts and miscellaneous subjects… He can wait another day." Cynthia nodded slowly and returned to her desk outside the office.

"Tomorrow afternoon sound good Director?" Jenny heard Cynthia yell from the other room. She leaned back in her chair and took a little sip of water- not wanting to upset her stomach anymore.

"That'll be fine Cynthia…" She couldn't drink coffee. She hated tea. Alcohol was out of the question and any food she thought about felt gross to her. Jenny opened the private drawer under her desk with a key and pulled out the little white stick that she had peed on a few days ago. It would be a long nine months…


	2. Close Call

A/N:_ Thanks you guys for the feedback! I know some of you guys absolutely hate having show dialogue in stories and i respect that, so i am not going to be putting in actual show dialogue in this story- apart from the beginning of this chapter just to get things moving along. It was taken directly from the episode 5x03. Hope you guys enjoy!_

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"Director. Agent Gibbs and Colonel Mann are here to speak to you." Cynthia muttered through the telecom. Jenny paused momentarily; her tired eyes averting from the computer screen -full of budget cuts- to the telecom. "Director?" Cynthia asked again when Jenny didn't answer. Her hand hovered over the reply button- her hand shaking.

She didn't want to see him. She had managed to avoid him somehow for a month without catching a wink of him. Just thinking about the man sent nervous shivers travelling up and down her spine. "Send them in." She spoke quietly as she pressed the button on the telecom. Immediately the door swung open.

He looked just the same as he had a month ago. The same scowl. Same expression. She wondered if he was feeling regret like she was. Or if he even remembered. Colonel Mann followed suit- her camo tracksuit and braided hair a plain reminder of the 'not so secret' relationship between the two investigators. He walked over to the front of her desk, finally making eye contact with her. She saw no expression in them- as if the passionate night that they had spent together a month prior was a complete waste of time.

Jenny removed the glasses sitting on the bridge of her nose and leaned back in her chair- consciously resting her hands on the arms of the chair. She squinted her eyes at the two investigators, waiting for them to tell her what the hell was going on. Already, she could feel the nausea building up- something that she had realised was happening more and more when she was stressed.

"We have a… Little issue." Colonel Mann stated as Jenny quirked an eyebrow- making eye contact with the woman. She swore that if it involved something to do with their 'not so secret' relationship, Jenny would quit her job. She glanced over to Jethro to see the man blankly looking at her- his gaze focused closely on her body, but his mind elsewhere.

"We?" Jenny asked nonchalant. Colonel Mann turned towards Jethro.

"You wanna tell her, Agent Gibbs?" Jenny watched on tiredly as the man she loved shifted his weight on his feet- like he always did when he was trying to process information. It made her wonder how he'd react if she told him about the baby.

"No, not particularly." He muttered back quickly.

"Is this going to involve lawyers?" Jenny questioned, she knew how much Jethro detested the people.

"It already did." The colonel replied back with a slightly troubled expression. Jethro tilted his head towards Jenny then rolled his eyes back in frustration as he saw the pissed off expression forming on Jenny's face. When cases involved lawyers, things tended to get ugly real fast.

Jenny turned her penetrating gaze to the colonel who had her hands tied tightly behind her back- forcing the woman to elaborate further. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Jethro making eye contact with the floor. "Its his ex-wife. She's a material witness." The Colonel explained. The director redirected her penetrating gaze to Jethro who had straightened his posture and was looking out the window. Damn him for being married so many times…

"And… Which ex would that be?" Jenny asked in a sarcastic tone- it was her way of getting back at Jethro for his bad attitude. He locked gazes with the retaliation in her eyes as she unconsciously moved her hands over her stomach.

"Stephanie." He stated nonchalant.

"What number is she again? Second?" Jenny interrogated with internal amusement as she fiddled with her hands. It was nice to remind him of all the failures of his relationships- to remind him of their own.

"Third." Jethro droned.

"Oh right…" Jenny remarked sarcastically as if she didn't know. Of course, she knew all of his wives and the order and the time that they were all spent married. Colonel Mann looked to the ground shaking her head and smiled at Jenny egging Jethro on. "You lived in Europe with her for a while. Frankfurt?" Her hands had returned to the armrests.

"Moscow." He corrected.

"Two years?" Jenny asked leaning forward with her eyes squinted.

"One."

"Well its hard to live in Moscow… With anyone." Jenny spat, aiming the comment at Jethro. Her hands returned back to her stomach- the little amusement temporarily distracting her from the nausea bubbling up. She watched as Jethro frustratedly gazed back at the Colonel- causing even more amusement to Jenny. "Do you think he should… Divorce himself from this case Colonel Mann?"

"No, no Ma'am. No." The colonel responded shaking her head towards the floor and avoiding the gaze of Jenny. The director was pretty sure that the colonel was enjoying this as much as Jenny was.

"Nor do I. I don't see a problem if you conduct the interview?" Jenny stated with raised eyebrows and staring at the Colonel intently. She irked her head towards Jethro. "Do you have a problem with Colonel Mann interviewing your ex wife Agent Gibbs?" Jenny asked the man with a slight hint of spite in her voice.

"Do I have a choice?" He muttered with sarcasm while avoiding his gaze from the redhead.

"No." The two women spoke in unison. Gibbs held a pouting expression for a mere moment before returning to a straight posture again.

"Problem solved." Jenny stated happily in a sarcastic voice as if the situation wasn't that difficult to solve at all. She watched on as the pair of investigators exchanged looks- the nausea starting to seriously get worse. "That'll be all." Jenny stated quickly- jumping up from her seat and opening the door for them.

She avoided Jethro's fiery gaze as he walked out the door- instead deciding to look across the room at the sofa. As soon as they were out, she shut the door and ran into the bathroom – sitting by the edge of the toilet and taking in deep breathes. Jenny closed her eyes and held her hand over her mouth, she wasn't sure if she needed to be sick or to cry. Probably both.

A single tear rolled down the side of her cheek as she thought about Jethro's relationship with Hollis. They deserved each other for all she cared. Hollis was a pretty woman. Jethro's type minus the red hair. Then her mind flickered to the tiny life growing inside her. The life Jethro and she had created. Her hand covering her mouth shakily moved protectively over her stomach.

Did she really want this? Did she really need it in her life? Did she want it to be in the middle of its parent's mess? Jenny heard a short knock at the door. She quickly wiped off the tear stains from her cheek and stood up slowly. "Director?" She heard Cynthia ask cautiously. "Martin is ready to take you to that appointment." Jenny brushed the creases forming on her vest.

"Thankyou Cynthia I'll be down in a few moments." Jenny shouted through the door. She breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the footsteps walking away. Cynthia along with Martin- her driver- were the only people who knew that Jenny was going to an appointment at the hospital. For what- they didn't know.

The woman washed her face down with water and used the towel to dry it off- at least she looked decent enough. She emerged from the bathroom and packed all the things that she would need into her small handbag. As she walked past the desk, Cynthia shot her a concerned look. Something that she had been receiving from the woman a lot lately.

* * *

"When was your last period?" The obstetrician asked Jenny. The woman paused for a moment and thought back- she was never great at keeping track of her cycles and she hadn't thought about it. Her hands fiddled with the handle on her handbag that was sitting on her lap and she squinted her eyes.

"Long time ago…" Jenny muttered, and the doctor smiled in understanding. Jenny watched the doctor as she typed all the notes Jenny was telling her into the medical file on the computer.

"And you say that you took a pregnancy test about a week ago?" The doctor clarified. Jenny nodded and took a deep breath- trying to prevent herself from being sick. "I see that you are one of the many victims of morning sickness." Jenny sighed and looked down at her bag.

"Unfortunately." Her voice faltered at the end. "Got anything to relieve it?" Jenny inquired with a little bit of hope in her voice. The doctor shook her head solemnly and looked over to the redhead.

"Nothing concerning medication, I'm afraid. But saltine crackers and ginger ale have been said to help relieve some of the nausea." The blonde doctor explained. She had sparkling green eyes and a small button nose- her name was Samantha. Jenny nearly gagged at the thought of food- it was hard enough just to keep water down.

After a few more minutes of typing, Samantha beckoned for Jenny to sit on the bed on the other side of the room. Jenny did as she was told while Samantha retrieved the stethoscope hanging around her neck. "Just gonna have a little listen of your heart rate, take your blood pressure and I'll do a pelvic exam as well." The director nodded and let the doctor do her thing.

The stethoscope was cold on her warm skin. She thought about Jethro. She knew that he deserved to know about his unborn child, but how would she tell him? It made her feel sick just to have the thought of having that conversation. Then there was Hollis to consider as well. How would she react to Jethro cheating on her?

Samantha moved the stethoscope to Jenny's back- She took deep breathes in and out as she moved the object around. "Everything seems perfect… Now the blood pressure." The doctor said happily. Jenny smiled and placed her hands on her lap- happy having the peace of mind that she was okay. Samantha pulled out a blood pressure cuff and placed it on Jenny's arm.

It suddenly felt tight as the cuff expanded and prevented maximum blood flow. Everything was quiet as Samantha focused on the tiny arrows pointing to the numbers on the dial. The only thing making sound, the ticking of the clock and the air slowly leaking out of the cuff. "Blood pressure is excellent." Samantha stated as she removed the cuff.

"Pretty surprising considering no coffee." Jenny muttered sarcastically and the doctor couldn't help but laugh in amusement.

"Oh Jenny… You'll start feeling better in a few weeks." Samantha reassured. She gestured for the redhead to lie back on the bed. "I apologize in advance if this may hurt a bit… I just need to have a feel of your pelvis to see where we are at." Jenny nodded in consent. Her eyes felt heavy as Samantha lifted up her shirt and felt around her pelvic region. The woman hadn't slept well in the last month- partly due to nausea and because she missed Jethro.

The doctor finished her exam and gave Jenny a small glass of water- she sat up slowly and sipped at it. "I am estimating based on the size of your pelvis that you are about 6 weeks along. Which would make your due date…" The doctor did a quick calculation on the computer. "The 10th of June." Jenny nodded and walked back over to the seat.

"So… No ultrasound then?" Jenny asked seriously- she made eye contact with the doctors' serious green eyes.

"If we did an ultrasound today, we wouldn't see that much… I'll schedule a visit in a month's time, and we'll be able to see your baby's progress much more clearly." Jenny nodded and gulped with fear evident in her face. The doctor held Jenny's hands in hers for the redhead's comfort.

"What are you worried about Jenny… You can tell me." Samantha reassured quietly. Jenny bit her lip and averted her eyes from the doctor- she had told the woman earlier that the pregnancy was unplanned.

"What if I miscarry?" She said with no emotion in her voice. It had been a question bothering Jenny ever since she had found out- she didn't really want the baby, but she didn't necessarily want to lose the only thing bonding her and Jethro together either. Samantha nodded and crossed her arms together.

"Its possible…" Samantha said seriously. "And its common… But it doesn't necessarily mean that it will happen to you." Jenny nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm prescribing you some progesterone and folic acid. It will help keep baby healthy and the progesterone will play a part in preventing a miscarriage."

The redhead bit her lip tightly and clutched the handbag that she was holding. _June 10__th__. June 10__th_. Jenny repeated in her head. The day that her son or daughter would hopefully be born… Samantha printed off a prescription with the meds and handed it to Jenny. "I wish you well Jenny…"

* * *

Tony DiNozzo was bored. Bored out of his mind. Taking the tubular paper wrapper all crumpled up on his desk, he inserted it over the red straw and brought it to his mouth. Blowing gently, the paper wrapper flew off the end of the straw and hit the black-haired partner sitting across from him.

She let out a noise of frustration as the fifth straw paper hit her. Ziva got up from her desk and paced over to the culprit's desk, sending him a dark and fiery gaze. Honestly, she didn't know what was more annoying- Tony being bored or Tony annoying other people. "Zivah." Tony droned out as he began to put another paper on the straw, but he was stopped as the ninja snatched both the straw and paper from his hand and threw them in the bin.

Tony looked up at the woman innocently with a slight pouting expression, only for his gaze to be met with annoyance and frustration. "Must you do that?" Ziva snapped. Tony held up his hands in defence and pointed at the probie across the other side of the room.

"Blame the probie." Tony whispered. Ziva grit her teeth together and leaned her elbows on his desk- getting right in the senior field agents face.

"Don't bring me into this DiNozzo…" McGee shouted across the bullpen. Tony could feel Ziva's penetrating gaze boring into his face.

"Haven't you got anything better to do than to just sit around and blow paper off straws?" Ziva whispered dangerously quiet. Tony smiled and pulled out a magazine from out of his draw- a new GSM edition with a woman in a bikini plastered on the front.

"You read it yet? Zivah." Tony asked in a sarcastic tone. The woman stood back up and sent a disgusted gaze towards Tony.

"No. I have got paperwork to do." Ziva stated as she strutted back towards her desk. Out of the corner of Tony's eye he could see the bossman walking into the bullpen from the elevator. He quickly placed the magazine back in the drawer and cleared his throat.

"Boss, got that background information that you were after." Tony Dinozzo stated as he walked in front of Gibbs desk. The older man sat down and took a sip of the black coffee- sending Dinozzo a chilling glare. "Names Cassandra Blair. Been Holtham's therapist for the last three years."

Jethro saw the image of the woman Tony was talking about on the plasma. Taking a good look at the woman, he realised that she had dark red hair and sparkling blue eyes. She reminded him of his ex-wives, but also Jenny. As he thought about her, he realised he hadn't seen her that often in the last week. Let alone the last month. Mostly it was embarrassment. And a lot of regret. "Bring her in." He said nonchalantly. "Take Ziva with you."

Tony nodded and the two agents packed their backpacks and headed towards the elevator- leaving Jethro staring at the therapist on the plasma. He glanced up towards the catwalk at the MTAC sign and then towards the door to Jenny's office that was tightly shut.

Something about 'That' Night was bothering him… It wasn't the unprofessionalism between them or the excessive drinking of bourbon the two had spent hours doing beforehand. It was something else, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He had been avoiding her as best as he could. On the occasions that he did happen to see her, she looked devoid of emotion. If not completely expressionless.

He had noticed something else as well. She was arriving to work way earlier than before 'that night'. Jethro may have only spent a few months in a relationship with the woman, but he knew her well enough to know that she was definitely not a morning person. So why was she arriving to work so early? Perhaps she was avoiding him as well. Perhaps she was embarrassed too. Perhaps she just hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. That stung…

He felt the probie's burning gaze and turned to make eye contact with McGee who was sending him a concerned look. "Boss. You okay?" He asked a little concerned. Jethro smiled and took another sip of his coffee. McGee sometimes got too concerned over the littlest changes in behaviour- it was good though. The man was getting better at observing suspicious behaviour. Gibbs nodded and walked out the bullpen. He needed to have a little chat with the Director.

* * *

"Agent Gibbs. STOP right there." Cynthia raised her voice as Jethro's hand hovered over the door handle. He rolled his eyes and stared at the curly haired woman sitting at the desk. "She's busy…" Cynthia tried to explain. Gibbs walked over to the desk and leaned the palms of his hands on the desk and took a good hard look at the woman.

He would never be able to understand how Jenny worked with her on a daily basis. The constant whining and nagging was enough just to drive him crazy. Perhaps that was why Jenny employed her as her assistant- He always remembered Jenny being super unpunctual and late back in her early probie days.

"Busy with what?" Gibbs asked already knowing what the answer would be. Paperwork. That's all Jenny seemed to envelop herself with as of late. Cynthia placed her hands on the desk and looked Jethro directly in the eye.

"Agent Gibbs. I've already told you that the Director is busy- "

"Cynthia… This is urgent." Gibbs interrupted. It actually wasn't… But how else would he get into her office? Cynthia rolled her eyes and pressed the intercom button to Jenny's office. What Gibbs didn't know was that Jenny had specifically told Cynthia that she didn't want to see agent Gibbs unless it was absolutely necessary. It made the woman wonder what the hell was going on between them.

"Director. Agent Gibbs is here to see you." Cynthia drowned out. When there was no answer, Cynthia tried again. "Director… This is urgent." Still no answer. Gibbs had had enough. He stormed through the door to her office and was surprised to see that there was no redhead sitting at the desk. Instead he heard gagging coming from the bathroom.

The man rushed in to see the redhead curled up on the tiled floor next to the toilet shaking. "Jen?" Jethro said in shock. She looked pale and very tired. Crouching down to Jenny he felt her forehead- it was freezing. He picked the woman up and carried her out to the couch- much to her protests.

"Jethro please… I'm fine. I really am" Jenny begged with tears in her eyes as she gripped onto his strong biceps carrying her. This was not the way that she intended for him to find out about the pregnancy.

"You call that fine?" Jethro asked her in disbelief. He gently placed her on the couch and Jenny lay back against the armrest with her arm draped over her forehead. Cynthia rushed in with a plastic cup filled with water and handed it to Jenny who took a tiny sip of it before placing it on the table next to her.

"Should I call Ducky?" Cynthia asked Gibbs. He nodded but was interrupted by Jenny.

"NO." She said solemnly. Cynthia stopped in her tracks and glanced at the director and then back towards Jethro. "It's a stomach flu bug. Wasn't feeling that great this morning… I don't need Ducky to diagnose me." Jenny quickly lied on the spot, but Jethro wasn't buying it.

"Call Ducky. Cynthia." Jethro spat. Jenny shot him a pissed off gaze and Jethro sat on the other couch while Cynthia left the room to call Ducky- his eyes intently glued to the redhead. Jenny avoided his stare and grabbed the cup of water- taking another sip of it. Great- this was exactly why she wanted to keep the pregnancy a secret.

"What do you want Jethro?" Jenny asked in a frustrated and tired tone. Jethro gazed at the large dark circles under her eyes. It looked like she was suffering from more than just a stomach flu… Thank God Ducky would help get the truth of what really was going on- whatever it was.

"To have a little chat." He replied after a moment. Jenny scoffed and took another sip of her water.

"About?" She questioned with sarcasm in her voice. He was surprised by her tone, but then again, he did walk in on her throwing her guts up.

"Us." He said simply. Jenny wiped a wisp of hair from her face and looked the man directly in the eye. For once there wasn't any lack of emotion in them, but concern.

"Your deciding to have this conversation now instead of 5 weeks ago?" Jenny asked in disbelief. Jethro sighed and walked towards the door. For a moment Jenny thought that he was going to walk out, but instead he closed the door- giving the two of them privacy from Cynthia and any other prying eyes and ears around.

Jethro sat back down on the couch to see that the redhead was sitting up with one leg crossed over the other. She was wearing a black pencil skirt with a black blouse. Small pink flowers were scattered all over it. Her hair was down with the tips of her hair just touching her shoulders. "Look… I know I screwed up- "

"You're right Jethro. You did screw up!" Jenny shouted with pain in her voice. "You screwed up the minute that you showed up at my house." Jethro rested his head in his hands- still keeping a watchful eye on the redhead. "How could you think you had the right to leave like that? With no words at all?" She spoke hoarsely.

The man nodded. Even though it was hard to admit- he had made a bad mistake walking out without discussing the complicated situation with Jenny. "I thought that it would be better if we just… Forgot about it." Jenny squinted her eyes at the man with a deep furrow in her face. She shook her head.

"You don't forget about a one-night stand _that _easily Jethro." Jenny muttered. There was a moment of silence between them as they tried to figure out what they wanted to say. Jenny twirled her hands together while Jethro sighed and looked around the room.

"I know." He said simply after a moment. Jenny glanced back at the man wondering if it was the time to tell Jethro about the pregnancy. "And I'm sorry." She held a confused expression- he never apologised.

"Betraying your own rules now, are you?" She muttered sarcastically- still feeling mad. Mad that she was pregnant. Mad that he had left and ignored her when she needed him the most. Jethro brought his hands to his lips and looked to the floor- he had forgotten how stubborn the woman was. "You do that with Hollis as well?" Jethro sent her a sharp and penetrating gaze.

"Leave Hollis out of this Jen. This is about you and me." Jenny stood up- holding the side of the couch to stabilise her.

"Don't tell me to leave Hollis out of this. And don't _Jen _me either. I'm not a probie anymore." She snarked walking to her desk and taking a seat in the chair. Jethro stood up and sat on the edge of her desk. She rolled her eyes- why couldn't he just go away.

"What do you want me to say then? _Director." _The redhead leaned back in the stair and exhaled deeply. The door suddenly swung open revealing Cynthia and Ducky- who was holding a medical bag. He walked in cautiously- very aware that Jenny and Jethro were having a serious conversation.

"Am I… Interrupting?" Ducky asked. Jenny stood up and walked towards the door holding it wide open.

"Not at all Ducky. Jethro was just leaving." Jenny stated with ire in her voice looking at the man that she currently hated. Ducky gave Jethro a sympathy glare as he walked out the office. Jenny slammed the door as he walked out and returned swiftly to her swingy chair- leaving Ducky confused as to what had just happened.

"Everything okay my dear? Cynthia was uh… Very concerned about you." Ducky stated as he took a seat in front of the desk. Jenny shook her head and rested her hands on the arm rests.

"Ducky… There is absolutely no need to do any health examinations or to check up on me. My health is absolutely fine." It wasn't a lie. She actually was healthy and so was her baby- according to Samantha anyway. Ducky looked at her sincerely and studied her- paleness and fatigue jumping right out at him.

"Are you sure?" He asked out of curiosity. Jenny nodded and closed her eyes for a mere moment- She looked at the clock on her desk and realised that it was nearly 4:00. Nearly time to go home and forget the day. Except she wouldn't. "Then how do you explain the large circles under your eyes? And the paleness of your skin? I should tell you Jennifer that I once knew a girl- "

"Ducky. Please…" Jenny grovelled with her hands clasped together. "I ate something dodgy last night and it kept me awake for a while. The vomiting began just a short while ago. All it is, is just a stomach bug. Nothing else." She whispered the last part.

"Then I… Suggest that you go home Director and get some much-needed rest." Jenny nodded and walked to the door- opening it and seeing Ducky out. She saw Jethro sitting on the couch outside- still wanting to finish their conversation from earlier.

"I was planning on doing that… Before these two went all dramatic on me." Jenny muttered looking at Jethro and Cynthia.

"Yes well. Look after yourself Jennifer." Ducky stated as he left the office, Jethro walked right back in- shutting the door behind him.

"That was brief." Jethro stated nonchalantly as he sat on the conference table. Jenny rolled her eyes and sent Jethro a chilling gaze.

"I told you. It's just a stomach bug. Nothing that a little rest can't fix." Jenny reassured him. Jethro watched her right eye twitch- a lie. He gazed at the woman as she placed odd bits and pieces into her handbag.

"No… It's not." Jethro said simply. Causing the redhead to stop in her tracks and look to the floor. Damn him for being so observant and damn her right eye and its twitches.

"What are you trying to suggest Jethro?" Jenny asked getting more frustrated by the second. "You think that I have some sort of illness or that I'm dying from cancer?" He shook his head briefly from side to side and looked out the window behind her. "I'm FINE." Jenny walked out the door and said goodbye to Cynthia. Gibbs followed her to the elevator.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he had in his gut. She was holding something back and he was determined to get it out of her. Pressing the button on the panel, Jenny let out a breath and made eye contact with Jethro's steel eyes. "Don't you have work to do?" She asked impatiently. He shook his head as the elevator doors opened.

Stepping inside, Jenny pressed the button to go downstairs to the carpark. Gibbs followed suit and as soon as the doors closed, he flicked the switch- shrouding them in darkness. Jenny bit her lip and shook her head. "I feel terrible Jethro… Just let me go home." Jenny almost begged.

Jethro turned to face her- his blue eyes meeting her pearly green. "What's really going on Jen?" She couldn't believe it. He was still trying his luck to get it out of her. She knew that he knew that it wasn't a stomach bug. Why couldn't he just drop it?

"How many times do I have to tell you Jethro… It's a stomach- "

"Yeah a stomach bug… But its not is it?" Jenny leaned back against the railing of the elevator- feeling the cold metal perpetuate through her already cold back. He already had it at the tips of his fingertips, and she wasn't ready… "You can tell me Jen- "

"NO. I CAN'T Jethro…" Jenny said too frustrated. "I can't…" She whispered hoarsely- looking down to the floor- all that reflected back were bumpy grey tiles.

"Yes, you can…" Jethro egged on. Jenny lifted a hand to her cheek and closed her eyes- taking in a deep breath. It was on the tip of her tongue. He moved closer to her- putting his hands on the railings both sides of her. "Jen- "

"Okay Fine Jethro! I'm Pregnant! And I absolutely hate it. Does that satisfy your needs?" Jenny rambled out. Jethro paused for a moment- completely speechless. Pregnant. The morning sickness. The fatigue. It should have been more obvious to him.

Jenny rested her head back on the wall and closed her eyes as she felt nausea returning. A tear escaped and she felt a thumb wipe it away. "Jethro… Don't." Jenny spat out of utter exhaustion. She couldn't take anything anymore.

"You're pregnant?" Jethro asked in utter shock. Jenny nodded slowly- as she looked into his steel blue eyes. She couldn't tell if it was excitement or just plain shock, they held an expression that Jenny had never seen before in Jethro's eyes.

A baby. Jenny was pregnant. He assumed that it was his baby as well. He watched as she burst into tears. Jethro immediately pulled her into a tight embrace and buried his nose in her hair. He had missed her- that was for sure. He was starting to feel a bit emotional as well. "I DON'T Know what to do!" Jenny cried out into his shoulder. "I Don't want this Jethro!"

His heart broke. She didn't want his baby? He rubbed comforting circles on her back as she continued to sob uncontrollably into his shoulder. The smell of sawdust and coffee comforted her as she cried out of utter exhaustion. Perhaps if she was just a little stronger, she wouldn't be such a mess. "Shhh…" Jethro whispered. "Everything is alright."

Jenny closed her eyes and tried to slow down her breathing. She wrapped her hands tightly around his back as she tried to steady herself. "No. Its not." She replied hoarsely. "I'm so sick and tired." Jethro nodded into her hair and closed his eyes. He felt bad. She had been going through this without his knowledge and it hurt. What also hurt was that she wasn't planning on telling him. He had to pry it out of her.

She pulled away from his embrace and wiped the tears off of her cheeks, to see the mixed emotions plastered all through Jethro's face. "You want an abortion?" Jethro whispered with emotion in his voice- disbelief perhaps. Jenny shook her head and averted her gaze from Jethro.

"What difference would it make?" Jenny muttered. The man flicked the emergency switch off and the elevator swung back into life.

"I'm taking you home." Jenny didn't bother fighting him. She was literally out of fighting energy with no strength whatsoever.

* * *

Tony and Ziva returned into the NCIS building with the redheaded therapist lady they had been sent after. They took her to the interrogation room and returned into the bullpen where they were surprised to see that Jethro wasn't at his desk. Tony shot a questioning look towards McGee who was sitting at his desk- still typing.

"McGeek. Where's the boss?" He whispered. Tony had become more cautious over the years about what he said behind Jethro's back. The man lurked in every nook and cranny and seemed to hear everything that rambled out of the senior field agents' mouth.

McGee glanced up to see the senior field agent standing in front of his desk with his backpack slumped over his should. Ziva stood mere inches behind him in the same position. Both of them had curious looks on their faces. "I think he is in with the Director." McGee muttered- returning his gaze to the computer screen.

Tony squinted his eyes at McGee and slowly walked over to his desk- dumping the backpack onto the floor next to it. "What do you think they talk about?" Tony asked typing something on his computer. Ziva rolled her eyes and sat down at her desk- returning to the paperwork that she needed to catch up on.

"Work Tony. They talk about work." Ziva stated sarcastically. The woman watched as the gears visibly turned in Tony's brain. He leaned back in his chair and looked up to the white ceiling above them.

"Probie. How long has boss been up there?" McGee sighed and got up from his seat- walking over to the filing cabinet under the plasma screen.

"Half an hour. Maybe more." Tony smiled and looked towards the ninja who was rolling her eyes.

"See Ziva. I'm pretty sure discussions about 'work' don't take that long. So, what do you really think they are talking about? Could it be about the secret relationship that they are having? Or one of Gibbs ex-wives." Tony theorised.

"Why do you have to relate everything to love and romance Tony?" Ziva snapped. Tony sent her a look and stood up- strutting over to sit on the edge of her desk.

"Have you noticed in the last few weeks that boss and Director haven't been getting on very well? Zivah."

"We have pissed off the agency a lot lately. Well… You have. Blowing your undercover mission and losing 'La Grenouille' must have cost the Director a fortune." Ziva stated- glancing at Tony.

"That wasn't my fault. Someone planted a bomb under my car. I COULD HAVE DIED!" Tony shouted a little defensively. He was still heartbroken and mad at losing his first girlfriend. Mostly mad at Jenny. Ziva rolled her eyes at Tony's dramatic rage.

"But you didn't." Tony heard McGee mutter from the other side of the bullpen. The senior field agent walked over to McGee's desk and sent him a death stare. McGee took the hint and shut his mouth.

"Always full of great ideas- aren't you probie?" Tony muttered. The field agent took out his cell phone and dialled Gibbs number. He heard the phone ring for a moment before he heard sound on the other end of the line. "Boss."

"DiNozzo." Gibbs muttered back in the same tone. When Gibbs said nothing else- Tony carried on.

"We are… Got that redhead that you were after down in interrogation- "

"Interrogate her." Gibbs interrupted. Tony held a confused expression and opened his mouth, but no words came out.

"You're not… Gonna- "

"No DiNozzo. I'm not." The phone call ended, and Tony flipped the cell phone shut- confused as to what just happened. Ziva laughed at the field agent across the standing idly in the middle of the bullpen.

"Lost your words Tony?" The female ninja snarked.

"Boss has uh… A thing for redheads. Thought he might like to interrogate her… But I was wrong." Tony admitted. "What the hell just happened?" Tony asked himself as he rubbed the back of his head in confusion.

* * *

Jethro watched the redhead in disbelief as she lay on the couch in her living room- sleeping peacefully in a deep slumber. She was pregnant. Pregnant with his baby. Their baby. He draped a soft blanket made of wool over her- tucking in the edges so that no cold air could creep inside her cold skin.

Jenny had fallen asleep in the car- almost instantaneously. It only showed the pain and sheer exhaustion that she had been going through. Jethro had to carry her in. It was either that or a very cranky Director and he'd rather have her in a more stable mood to get answers he needed out of her.

He didn't even know how far along she was. Or if she had even made an appointment with a doctor to get it checked out. He didn't know anything. Apart from the fact that she had made it clear that she wasn't happy that she was pregnant. Sitting down on the stair opposite, he leaned forward and let out a sigh of frustration and stress.

Jenny was right. He had screwed up. Badly. One-night stands were never meant to exist to create a new life. What went through their minds that night? Well… The intoxication was one thing. That didn't help. And old feelings. He tried to imagine Jenny as a mother. A mother to his child. But he couldn't. He could only ever imagine her as a Director and a field agent.

Watching the rise and fall of her chest, he thought back 8 years prior to their missions across Europe. Jenny hadn't been fazed at all by the small children that they saw on stakeouts. It was never oohs and aahs and 'they are so adorable'. It was always sighing and complaints about how the children would run around and distract Jethro from their task.

Children reminded Jethro of Kelly. Now she would have a younger sibling in death. And the unborn child would have an older sibling that they would never meet. Kelly would have been so excited if she knew. She would be bouncing off walls and telling everyone about it. He would have liked for Jenny to have met her.

Then his mind flashed to Hollis. That was a problem in itself. Not only had he cheated on her, but he had also lied to her about the one-night stand. She didn't suspect anything presently- he didn't think. But when news would spread about Jenny's pregnancy, Hollis wouldn't have a doubt about who the father would be.

Feeling peckish, Jethro travelled into Jenny's kitchen and fumbled around the cupboards for something to eat. Truth be told, the woman didn't actually have that much. He wasn't surprised, considering how much she went out to eat with news agencies and the like. All he could find were saltine crackers. No wonder she was feeling sick. Eventually he found an instant cook packet of creamy mushroom chicken soup.

He put it into a pot and gently heated it on the stovetop. He would give some to Jenny when she woke up. Jethro didn't want to be a jerk towards her. If anything, he wanted her to keep the baby. He had no idea what she meant when she said _It wouldn't make a difference._ Was she referring to the feelings that she had about the pregnancy?

When the soup was nicely heated, Jethro took it off the heat and poured some into two bowls. One for him and one for Jenny. Walking back into the lounge- he saw the redheads eyelids flickering up and down. She was awake. He stood there and watched her as she held onto the blanket tightly- looking down at the floor. She then glanced up to see Jethro standing there holding two bowls.

Jenny sat up and took one of the bowls from Jethro. "Thanks." She said simply- stirring the spoon around in the liquid. Jethro sat back down opposite and gently blew on the spoon. There was silence as the two agents immersed in their own thoughts.

"You were planning on telling me… Right?" Jethro asked her, getting straight to the point with concern plastered all over his face. Jenny avoided eye contact and placed the spoon back in the liquid. For once her stomach actually felt alright- something rare.

"Eventually…" Jenny muttered- holding the bowl. "I didn't know what to say…" Jethro nodded and sipped gently on the soup. "I screwed up Jethro…" She said guiltily as she placed the bowl of soup on the table next to the couch. She couldn't eat while having this conversation.

"We both did…" He said with no emotion in his voice. He watched as she fiddled her fingers together on her lap. There was a moment of silence while Jenny tried to process her thoughts.

"I don't know how people do it…" She said in defeat. Jethro sent her a questioning look. "Morning sickness… Hits you at every moment of the day." He placed the soup on the table and leaned back in the chair- crossing his arms together.

"Shannon got it pretty bad with Kelly." Jethro stated, causing Jenny to make eye contact with Jethro's steel eyes. She had forgotten about his first wife- and Kelly.

"Sorry Jethro…" Jenny said with sympathy. This couldn't have been easy on him either. Reliving all the memories he ceased to remember. Jethro shrugged.

"Past is the past. Can't change it." Jethro said, referring to Shannon and Kelly's deaths but also to 'that' night. Jenny nodded and crossed her legs together in a pretzel shape on the couch. "You really don't want the baby?"

Jenny exhaled deeply and avoided eye contact- instead deciding to look out the window. "Look at the reality Jethro… We're federal agents. Not… School Teachers." Jenny muttered. "We can't just… Abandon our jobs to take care of a kid."

"There is something called maternity leave." Jethro accidently let slip out of his mouth- causing Jenny to shoot him a scowl.

"What about when it gets older Jethro? When we work long hours and aren't home in time for dinner? What kind of a lifestyle is that?" Jenny tried to reason.

"We can make it work. You've seen hundreds of cases of parents working long hours." Jenny shook her head.

"Its not the same Jethro… Those parents have ordinary jobs."

"You call being deployed in the navy an ordinary job?" Jethro asked her, raising an eyebrow. Jenny bit the inside of her lip in frustration.

"I just don't think I'll be able to take care of it… I don't know how to be a… Mother." Jenny said sadly. Jethro nodded and looked out the window.

"You'll learn."

"What if I'm not good at it?"

"No such thing as a perfect parent Jen." Jethro said seriously. Jenny took the bowl of soup sitting on the table and took another sip at it. It was nice having something tasty in her stomach other than saltine crackers and ginger ale.

"June 10th." Jenny said simply. Jethro furrowed his brow. "Its when its due…" Jethro nodded and looked at a calendar hanging on the wall. So, she _had_ gone to see a doctor. It was early November. Nearly half a year until his child would be born.

The phone rang in his pocket and Jethro took it out, looking at the caller ID. Dinozzo. He declined the call and slipped the phone back in his pocket. The investigation could wait. Jenny was more important. "I don't want you to be doing anything too strenuous." Jenny rolled her eyes.

"I'm the Director of a federal agency Jethro. I sit at a desk most of the day."

"That's my point. STOP coming to work so damn early and get some rest. It will help with the morning sickness." Jethro advised, leaning back in the seat. Jenny shot him a look.

"What makes you think that its going to help?" Jenny snarked. Jethro half smiled-half laughed. Then made eye contact with her tired green eyes.

"Sleep always helps Jen… Make the most of it while you can." Jenny nodded slowly and took a sip of warm soup on the spoon. As she swallowed, she could feel the heat travelling to her stomach. Jenny watched as Jethro stood up and walked to the window- he was reminiscing a memory of holding Kelly as a baby.

"Jethro…" He heard Jenny interrupt his thoughts. He turned around to see her looking at him with fear plastered all through her eyes. "There's always the chance I could miscarry…" She said lingering. Jethro nodded and turned back towards the window- sun streaming in.

"I know." He replied simply. Jenny gulped and took another sip of her soup. She just needed to put that out there. The last thing she needed was to tell Jethro 8 weeks into her pregnancy that their baby was dead- it was part of the reason that she didn't want him to know until at least the end of the first trimester. That's what her doctor recommended anyway…

"Don't… Tell anybody Jethro. It was a close call just today." Jenny warned. The man turned around and sat on the blanket next to her on the couch- placing his hands on his lap. Part of him wanted to shout from the rooftops that he'd be a dad again, but he knew what consequences that would have on his and Jenny's relationship. Not to mention his relationship with Hollis Mann.

"When should I?" She shrugged and placed the bowl of soup on the table and lay back against the arm of the chair- crossing her arms together.

"When things start getting obvious." Jenny said referring to her stomach. She lifted up the shirt she was wearing slightly- revealing the still very flat and pale tummy that she had. "I hope I don't get massive…" She said sombrely and Jethro couldn't help but laugh at her comment- knowing that she was gonna be super annoyed towards the end of the pregnancy.

"Ah…" Jethro said nonchalantly. "You'll be fine." Jenny exhaled a deep breathe and stared into his steel blue eyes. He seemed to be more understanding about the situation than she had expected. Calm was more the word that described him. "What?" Jethro asked when Jenny wouldn't look away.

She broke eye contact and shook her head. "I just never thanked you for today…" The man cocked his head towards her. "For being concerned… And having my back…" Jethro bounced his head from side to side and stood up- grabbing his coat from the coat hanger.

"You'll call me? When you need to talk?" Jenny nodded and pulled the blanket that he had been sitting on closer to her body.

"I'll be having an ultrasound in a couple weeks… You can come along if you want." Jenny stated with hope in her voice. Jethro nodded and walked towards the front door.

"Take care Jen." Then he was gone. Jenny brought a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. What a whirlwind of a day. She herself still wasn't particularly bothered about keeping the baby, but she would for Jethro's sake… The last thing she needed was to lose the first man that she truly loved all because she got rid of his baby…


	3. Carson

Early November 2007

Jenny tried to remember a time when she really had to pee. She didn't ever remember having to pee as bad as she needed to now- another fantastic perk of being pregnant. As she sat in the waiting room of the hospital, her leg shook slightly as she tried to wade off the uncomfortable sensations in her bladder. He wasn't here yet. He said that he'd be here.

She picked up a trashy magazine sitting next to her on the table with a picture of a model in a green bathing suit plastered on the cover. She stared at it for a few seconds before opening it up and flicking through some of the pages.

A heavy presence sat next to her and it took her a minute to realise that it was actually Jethro. She looked across into his bright blue orbs. To any stranger, Jethro's eyes would look plain and bland, but Jenny saw excitement, pain, anxiety, embarrassment all stirred in them. "What took you so long?" She practically snapped.

The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat and glanced carefully around the room. "I had to find an excuse to leave." He whispered causing the redhead to close the magazine and smirk.

"That's a first…" She muttered sarcastically. Jethro watched as she placed the magazine down and jingled her legs around. Jenny was wearing black trousers and a black fleece with blue and white diamonds scattered all over it. "They told me I'm not allowed to pee…" She said irritably- pointing at the receptionists busy typing on their computers across the room.

Jethro scowled. "Why?" She shrugged and crossed her arms together.

"Something to do with seeing the bladder in the ultrasound." She muttered. Jethro nodded and took a sip of his coffee only to see Jenny's pleading eyes boring into him. She had caught a whiff of the caffeine and as much as she was about to pee her pants, all she really craved was a boost.

"NO." Jethro stated firmly. He wasn't about to let her endanger his baby's health by drinking caffeine. Jenny pouted slightly with a furrow on her brow- still looking at Jethro.

"PLEASE Jethro… I've been on decaf for the last month, all I'm craving is just a little pinch." Jenny whispered. He raised his eyebrows and moved the cup away from her.

"Not happening." Jenny leaned back in her chair and bit her lip tightly.

"This lady better hurry up sooner than later because I am this close to- "

"Jennifer?" The ultrasound lady announced across the room. Jethro glanced towards the voice to see an old woman standing in a doorway with a clipboard held in between her upper arm and chest. She had dark hair with wisps of grey starting to poke out and small rectangular glasses sitting on the bridge of her narrow nose.

Jenny stood up slowly with a sly smile on her face and preceded to walk towards the older woman. Jethro followed closely behind her as the older woman led them into a dark room with a bed and a small screen sitting right next to it. "Take a seat…" The older woman gestured for Jenny to lie on the bed. "My name is Dr Lansbury. I will be performing your ultrasound today."

Jethro sat on the chair on the other side of the bed – away from the doctor- and watched as the doctor pulled up Jenny's fleece all the way up to the base of her breasts. He noticed that her stomach had grown a little over the last couple weeks, there was the slightest bump on her tummy- not visible to the naked eye unless you really looked. Ultrasounds had been quite rare when Shannon was pregnant and expensive -which was why they decided not to have any ultrasounds with Kelly.

"10 weeks, are we?" Dr Lansbury asked Jenny calmly. She nodded and watched carefully as the woman applied a blueish gel to the probe and placed it over her stomach. It felt cool as the doctor pressed into and around her lower abdomen. As Jenny looked above her, she could see a screen with black, white and grey markings everywhere.

Jethro followed her gaze to see a small grey blob in the shape of a tiny ball. "There is your baby there." The doctor pointed out. Jenny could make out the head and the tiny little limbs attached to the body. Jethro leaned forward in the chair amazed, he had never seen anything like it before. There was his baby up there on the screen for him to see.

The doctor pulled up some sort of ruler thing on the screen to measure how long the baby was. She typed the measurements into the little questionnaire box on the side of the screen and continued to move the probe around the rest of Jenny's belly to get some more angles. Jenny glanced over towards Jethro sitting beside her, he had his hands clasped over his mouth and his eyes held an amazed expression.

Jenny gave him a smile and returned her gaze onto the screen above her. It was hard to believe that only a month ago she was in the hospital getting advice on how to deal with her morning sickness. It was also hard to believe the progress that had gone on inside her. This was her baby… She gulped slightly- feeling a rise in emotion. She didn't ever think that she'd ever be in this position. A mom to be.

She reflected back to when as a teenager, she used to laugh at all the teenage moms in high school. Little did she know back then how tough pregnancy in itself was… She couldn't imagine how those women would have coped having a baby and going through school at the same time. Jenny felt pressure and the intense desire to pee as the doctor pressed hardly around her bladder region.

She let out a breath- trying to calm herself. It was uncomfortable. Jethro reached out and grabbed her hand- giving it a slight squeeze. Surprisingly she didn't pull away from it. Jenny felt the warmth of his hand radiate through the rest of her body. She was actually glad he was here… Glad that she didn't have to experience this alone.

The doctor moved back up towards the centre of her belly again- turning on the sound. The room erupted into what sounded like galloping horses travelling 100 kilometres an hour on a road. It was their baby's heartbeat… She felt Jethro squeeze tighter and she couldn't help but let her other hand cover her mouth tightly and the tears in her eyes fall. It was so surreal…

They hadn't properly met the baby yet and she felt that she was already falling head over heels for it. She couldn't open herself up to motherhood… She just couldn't… The sound of the heartbeat seemed to get louder to Jenny- as if it was trying to tell her that it was okay to be feeling what she was feeling. She should have been feeling null and void about the whole situation. But instead she had turned into an emotional train wreck over something she hadn't met- right in front of Jethro.

He watched her as she tried to contain her emotions and failed miserably. He wanted to lie on that bed with her and sooth her, whisper words of comfort and tell her it was okay. The beating heart suddenly sprung into silence as the doctor turned off the sound and moved the probe to a different area of Jenny's stomach. She was still clasping tightly onto his hand.

It was nice to have physical contact with her. As much as he was regretting the reason why they were even at the hospital, he missed her warmth. Her body. Her screams of joy. He wanted her so badly, but it just wasn't possible with the positions they were in. There was Hollis to consider… The Secnav. The entire team not to mention the entire agency.

The Doctor removed the probe and placed it back under the screen and handed Jenny some paper towels to clean the gel off her stomach. "Baby looks very healthy and is about the size of a strawberry. Do you have any questions?" Jenny felt speechless. The ultrasound seemed to have drained her. She shook her head and continued to wipe the gel off. "Would you like a picture to take home?"

"Oh yes…" Jenny said without thinking. It was only a mere second later that she realised what she had said. Jethro smirked and Jenny shot him a glare. The doctor nodded and left the room to retrieve the picture leaving the two agents speechless.

"That was incredible Jen." Jethro said with awe in his voice. Jenny nodded- throwing a paper towel into the bin at the end of the bed.

"I don't know what to think." She muttered back quietly. The Doctor walked back in with the picture and handed it to Jenny. As she saw the picture, she traced her hands over top of the small blob and placed it in her handbag.

"I imagine I'll be seeing you in the near future… Take care Jennifer." The Doctor stated. Jenny thanked her and immediately walked to the nearest bathroom- afraid that her bladder was going to burst.

Jethro waited outside and watched as other heavily pregnant women walked past with husbands and other children by their sides. Part of him wished that he could experience that normality with Jenny, to be able to openly call her his wife, but knowing her she would never let that happen.

Jenny walked out looking a lot more refreshed and relieved. She placed her hands in her pockets with her handbag draped over her shoulder and walked in pace with Jethro down the corridor. "Why do I feel the way I do?" She said quietly, but loud enough so Jethro could hear. Jethro made eye contact with her bloodshot emerald eyes- seeing the confusion and anxiety in them.

"That's motherhood." He replied simply as he remembered Shannon going through similar stages. Jenny sighed and pulled out the picture of their baby from her handbag and stared at it blankly. She grabbed Jethro's hand and placed the picture in its grasp.

"You can have it. I don't want it." Jethro looked at her oddly. Was she just referring to the picture? Or to the actual baby as well?

"Jenny- "

"Jethro… I just can't… deal with this right now." She stuttered and stopped in the hall- turning to face him. "Every time I look at it I…" She hesitated and looked away. "Look… I just need some time okay?" After a moment of staring her down, Jethro nodded, and she turned on her heel to walk out of the maternity ward. Leaving him staring at the blurry picture of their miracle baby in his hand.

* * *

Sanding his boat was one of the only things that could ever calm Jethro's mind. It eased his pain, made him forget about his qualms. As he thrust his hand back and forth on the boat, he thought about his unborn child he had seen on an ultrasound the other day.

It was hard for him to admit, but he felt he was already in love with the child. Jenny- on the other hand- was a different story. Still stubborn as ever, refusing to accept that she was going to be a mom.

He could hear footsteps coming down the creaky staircase and didn't need to look up to see who it was. Hollis. He stopped sanding momentarily and quickly glanced up to see the woman gazing down blankly at him.

Her hair was flowing down her shoulders- something rare to see nowadays. He also got a whiff of the expensive perfume that she was wearing, it smelt good though. She walked over to his workbench and pulled out an old piece of carved wood lying underneath the table and proceeded to sit on top and watch the man intently.

"Something you needed?" Jethro asked- his voice deep and husky as it always was around her. Hollis placed her hands on her lap and tilted her head towards the man.

"You know why I'm here Jethro…" She said nonchalantly. He put down the sander and glanced her way with his hand still positioned on the boat. She was referring to the sensitive case that they had both been assigned to, for some reason Hollis always found the need to have to talk about it outside of work.

"Can't we just… Talk about something else other than the case." He muttered as walked over to her and poured himself and Hollis a glass of bourbon. The bottle practically lived in his basement. He handed her the glass and she looked at him oddly- as if she was searching his soul for something.

"Something is bothering you Jethro… It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out." Hollis stated calmly. Jethro leaned back against the workbench and let out a deep breath. The dead little boy that he had seen lying on the ground yesterday had not been a welcoming scene, but then again, any crime scene that they had to go to was not welcoming at all. "It's about Kelly… Isn't it?"

He raised the glass to his lips- avoiding eye contact with the woman. "I saw him too Jethro…" She reassured him, but she felt that he wasn't listening. He walked back over towards Kelly's boat and smoothed his hands over the crevasses and bumps in the wood.

He thought intently about his late daughter. He missed her smile. Her voice. Her playfulness. He missed Kelly, but no tears were managing to come out. Then his mind flickered to the little boy lying lifeless in autopsy, with his sandy blonde hair and pale blue mouth. It was like he was experiencing Kelly's death all over again. Except it wasn't Kelly. It was an innocent little boy who had died at the hands of a murderer.

"He died of gunshot wounds." Jethro said with a hint of anger deep in his voice. "He was just a boy…" His voice went hoarse at the end. He didn't know what it was… Ever since he had found out about Jenny's pregnancy a few weeks earlier, he seemed to be more on edge. More emotional and frantic over the little things.

Her pregnancy had brought up a lot of buried feelings… The feeling of being a parent again, the feeling of nervousness and excitement. Guilt. But most of all it was feelings of emptiness. There was no little girl to greet him when he got home from work. There was no little girl to make pancakes for in the morning. No little girl excited to be a big sister. There was no little girl at all…

Hollis stood up and walked towards Jethro wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his back. "We'll get through it Jethro… We'll get through it…"

"That's what they all say." He pulled away from her and travelled upstairs to the kitchen where he pulled out some creamed donuts from the fridge. Hollis followed and watched as Jethro dumped the box on the table for both of them to eat.

"How did you know I was a fan?" Hollis teased.

"Didn't." He muttered back sarcastically. She sat down opposite him and glanced around. She noticed an odd picture glued to the otherwise blank fridge by a magnet. It looked like an ultrasound… Jethro followed her confused and intrigued gaze. He supposed that this would be the night that he'd have to confess to cheating…

Jethro watched as she got up and removed the picture from under the blue magnet and brought it back to the table. _Shepard, Jennifer _it read along the top. Hollis felt a surge of anger and threw the picture on the table- averting her gaze away from the guilty man sitting across from her. Shame, guilt, regret and pain coursed through his body all at once.

"How could you?" Hollis whispered angrily. "How could you do this to us? To me?" Jethro closed his eyes and stood up leaning against an archway ready to hear her wrath. "Jenny is… Pregnant?" Hollis asked in disbelief. Jethro nodded. "And you're the father I suppose." He gulped.

"You can't mention about it to anyone… Jenny will… literally jump down your throat." Hollis pulled a chair out and sat down placing her head in her hands. Jethro did the same and hesitated to put a hand over hers.

"Oh, I'm sure she will…" The woman muttered sarcastically. "What happened?" Jethro didn't answer. "What HAPPENED?" She asked even louder. He avoided eye contact and looked to the ground.

"We had a little too much to drink…" Hollis huffed and shook her head in disbelief.

"No… No. No. No. No. You didn't…" She tried to tell herself, but it wasn't working at all.

"Hollis I…" Jethro breathed out a sigh of disappointment as the woman stood up and put on her heavy coat. He didn't stop her as she began to walk out of the kitchen.

"You can have the cream donuts… I'm not particularly hungry." She spat with ire.

"Could you just listen to me?" Jethro asked, raising his voice. The woman- midway out the kitchen door- stopped in her tracks and irked her head around to hear what he had to say. "I'm… Sorry." He managed to muster.

"How courageous of you to break your own rules…" She forced a fake smile and then retreated to the same sardonic expression. "But it doesn't change anything… Have fun with your new life."

Jethro heard his front door slam. As he glanced over the donuts, he picked up the picture of his unborn child lying face down on the table and brushed his fingers over its little body. He tucked it inside the pocket of his jeans and threw the donuts in the trash. They weren't much use now…

* * *

Jenny had jumped at the chance to take home Carson. The boy that had apparently been 'abducted' by his father. As the boy sat in the front passenger seat of her car playing a game on the device that his mother had packed for him, she thought about Jethro.

She hadn't seen him that much at all since she had left him at the ultrasound. She hadn't even seen him at all as she walked into work in the mornings. It was tempting to call him, but part of her didn't want to. One thing that she was hating every week was having to discuss 'baby stuff' with him. This week she was dreading having to discuss whether tests needed to be performed on the baby to test for any abnormalities.

Personally, she thought that it was a waste of money and time, but she knew that Jethro would see otherwise and would make her go through the tests if it meant the survival of their baby. She glanced over at Carson in the passenger seat of the car. She didn't know why she wanted to take care of the boy. Whether it was a motherly instinct or wanting something different for a change, Jenny didn't know.

She didn't even really know how to take care of a kid… He was only 9. He shouldn't be that difficult to take care of… She applied her foot to the brake and parked outside her house- turning off the car. Carson turned off his device at the sudden stop of the vehicle and looked out Jenny's window at her townhouse. "Cool! So, this is where you live?"

Jenny irked a smile and nodded. She opened the car door and stepped out, going around the other side to help the small boy out of the car. Jenny took his backpack for him and he followed her closely into the house. Carson gleamed as he glanced around the house and took in his surroundings. "You have an upstairs?" He asked excitedly.

"You don't have an upstairs at your home?" Jenny asked confused as she closed the door behind her.

"I'm an only child… We don't really need an upstairs…" Jenny whispered _oh_, and she watched as Carson hesitated to ask her something. "Can I go up there?" He asked quietly. The redhead smiled and led the boy upstairs into the guest bedroom across from hers.

"Lucky you gets a double bed for the night…" Jenny said enthusiastically. Carson belly flopped onto it and rolled around- feeling the warm sheets.

"Oh, this is sooooo cool!" Jenny laughed as she watched the boy, for some reason her heart was filling up with joy. She hadn't ever really experienced baby sitting before. Placing his backpack on the floor, she beckoned for him to come back downstairs.

Carson followed the strange woman into what he assumed was her study. He watched on confused as she sat down in her chair and put her glasses on- getting into the nitty gritty of her paperwork. He walked around glancing at some of the pictures on her walls- pictures of her family and some of who he assumed was her father.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" It was an innocent question, but one that caused Jenny to lose track of her work. She pondered for a moment wondering what to tell a 9-year-old about 'old flings'.

"No." Jenny said, not wanting to elaborate any further on the subject. She hadn't really thought that much about it, Jethro technically speaking was her boyfriend, but not at the same time. Carson looked at another picture and smiled.

"This is your dad?" He said pointing at the man with grey hair in uniform.

"Yes."

"He looks very smart, doesn't he?" Jenny nodded and glanced at the picture Carson was looking at. There wasn't a day that didn't go by without her thinking of her late father.

"He was employed in the army… Defeating all the bad guys." She stated. Carson irked his head towards the sound of Jenny's voice and bit his lip.

"Did he get to shoot guns? My dad shoots guns…" Jenny paused for a moment and then nodded cautiously.

"He did." She said coldly- remembering the reason why he was dead.

"Cool!" He stated enthusiastically. Jenny kept an eye on him as he made his way to the alcohol cabinet. "Are you an alcoholic?" He asked innocently. Jenny- a little taken aback by the question- stood up and walked to just behind Carson- carefully directing him away from it.

"No." She said simply.

"But anyone who has this much alcohol in their cupboard must be an alcoholic?" He reasoned with a frown on his forehead. What he didn't know was how tempted Jenny was just to have a tiny sip to relieve the day to day stress of her job. It wasn't so simple, now that she was pregnant. She missed the late-night wine sessions with her couch...

"They are just there for decoration…" Jenny lied casually, trying to find a good reason to explain to a child of why she had so much alcohol.

"Hmmm. I don't think so…" He said in a sarcastic tone. This kid totally reminded her of DiNozzo. "My dad has alcohol sometimes… He goes all loopy." He imitated a dizzy person spinning around causing the redhead to smile.

"That's why _you_ will never have alcohol." Jenny muttered as she returned to her desk. Carson sat lazily in the chair opposite her desk. He was bored without his toys. And felt sad having to miss movie night with his mom.

"Miss Director…" Carson asked. She looked up at the boy over the paperwork, already feeling overwhelmed with all his questions.

"Yeah." The boy rested his elbow on the chair and leaned his head on his hand.

"Do you have any movies?" He asked with big puppy eyes. Jenny bit her lip tightly and beckoned for Carson to follow her into the lounge. Jenny didn't watch that many movies herself. She was mostly too enveloped in her work to do so. As she went through the x rated movies that she did have in her cabinet, she shook her head.

"Nothing that suits your age." She said sadly causing a frown to plaster on Carson's forehead.

"I always watch movies with my mom on a Friday night. We call it fright night!"

"Sounds scary…" Jenny tried to empathize.

"It's not really… It just makes it sound cool. We watched Shrek last week." Jenny furrowed her brow.

"Shrek?" Carson snorted and shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh, come on… You don't know Shrek? Man, you must be old." Jenny tapped his shoulder lightly and he giggled. He spotted an X- Men cover in the cabinet and pulled it out. "You have X-Men! I've always wanted to watch this movie. Can we watch it? Please, please, please?" Jenny sighed and removed the cover from his hands and placed it back in the cabinet.

"Its PG 13. I don't think your mother would want you to have nightmares." His bottom lip nearly reached his nose and his brows bent into a dangerous arch. It was the puppy dog eyes that failed Jenny. "Okay fine… I'll put it on for you. But pinkie promise me one thing…"

Carson smiled and placed his hands behind his back. "Anything."

"Don't tell your mother…" Jenny warned. She saw the sly smile creep up on his face as he held up his pinkie- intertwining it with Jenny's.

Once she placed put the movie on, she returned to her study to finish up the rest of the paperwork that she needed to do. She could hear the movie blaring from her study, Carson must have turned up the volume. "Miss Director!" Carson called out from the lounge.

Jenny raced into the lounge to find the boy curled up in some blankets that he had been given. "I want hot chocolate." Jenny -who had thought he was in trouble- breathed a sigh of relief.

"Please." She said in a frustrated tone.

"Please." Carson reiterated. The woman travelled into the kitchen and glanced through the cupboard, looking for some packets of hot chocolate. She knew that she had some somewhere, but they seemed to be buried amongst all her other food. Eventually she spotted it and turned on the kettle- waiting for it to boil.

Her eyes felt heavy as she looked at the calendar hanging on the wall over the oven. It was mid-November and almost time for Thanksgiving… Jenny hated this time of year. It was always so lonely. Her sister and mother didn't want anything to do with her and her father was dead. And the colleagues at NCIS always seemed to be busy.

She poured the hot chocolate powder into two cups. One for Carson and one for her. She had found that Hot Chocolate seemed to calm her right before sleep. Checking her watch, she realised that it was nearly 10pm. Carson probably should've been in bed by now…

The kettle boiled and she poured it into the cups, stirring them around. She called for Carson to come into the kitchen to have his drink. Upon hearing the movie pause, she heard footsteps and watched as the boy sat on one of the stools and sipped on the hot chocolate.

"Carson. You can finish that movie tomorrow. Its bedtime now." The boy pouted and crossed his arms together.

"But the movie was just getting interesting!" Jenny took a sip of her drink and nodded. X- men was one of her favourite movies that she had once seen when she was undercover.

"Go upstairs and get into your pyjamas." She ordered and the boy trotted off to go put them on. She turned on some relaxing jazz music in her study and was surprised to hear a knock on the door 10 minutes later.

Upon opening it to see Jethro, Jenny realised that Carson had taken her phone and made a phone call to him. She led Jethro into her study where she watched on in awe at how well the man got on so well with kids.

She flashed back to a few months ago when they were both drinking in the same study… Jethro had been sitting on the chair Carson was on, Jenny had been busy wrapping her legs around his waist and shoving her tongue down his throat. Placing a hand over her stomach, she rubbed it gently- feeling the slight curve that was getting bigger every day.

Jethro returned to her side after finishing his chat with Carson and she glanced over his shoulder to see the boy fast asleep and buried in the chair. She smiled slightly and watched as Jethro's strong arms lifted the boy up gently. He moved around slightly- trying to get comfortable and then continued to sleep in a strong slumber. Jethro followed Jenny upstairs into the guest bedroom and laid the boy under the covers.

He followed Jenny out the room and watched as she rubbed her hands over her belly with their unborn child inside. "What would I do without you?" Jenny contemplated. He shrugged and leaned up against the wall with her looking down at the small bump slightly visible through her shirt.

"Can I feel?" He asked cautiously. It was something that he had been wanting to do for a while. Jenny- who was surprised by the question- made eye contact with his steel blue eyes and nodded hesitantly. He placed his hand on her firm stomach and traced the small curve. That was his baby in there.

"I still can't believe it…" Jenny muttered. Jethro nodded and removed his hand. "I saw Hollis Mann retired… Everything okay between you two?" Jethro leaned his head against the wall and avoided her eye contact. Jenny seemed to get the picture and sighed- placing a hand on her head. "I'm sorry Jethro…"

The man shrugged and started to walk towards the staircase. "It was inevitable…" He muttered. Jenny followed cautiously behind, she was curious to find out more, but the other half of her didn't want to know.

"I take it she knows about the baby…" Jenny whispered as she followed Jethro down the stairs. He nodded slightly. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Jethro slipped on his coat and watched as Jenny crossed her arms together. "I don't know if I can carry on like this Jethro…"

He made eye contact with a confused frown on his face. "Jen… Don't do this."

"Don't do what Jethro? Am I not allowed to 'freely' express my emotions and how I feel?"

"I never said that." He retorted, holding his hands up in defence.

"But you thought it…" She spat back. Jethro glanced toward the tiled floor in anger and sighed. "I'm just… scared… Terrified is a more appropriate word…" Jenny said, moving her head around to try and find his eyes. He bit his lip and took her hand in his and placed it over her stomach.

Something that she loved about Jethro's hands was their incredible strength, and yet they still had the capacity to be super gentle with her. Upon feeling her hand wedged between her firm stomach and his strong hand, she couldn't help but smile slightly. "That make you feel better?" Jenny blinked a few times and then nodded gently, sometimes all she needed was a gentle reminder about what was important, and Jethro knew that.

"He'll be okay right?" Jenny asked referring to the sleeping boy upstairs. He nodded and opened the door. Jenny caught it in her hand and watched as he strolled on out.

"He'll be fine. Night Jen..." He certainly seemed to hold a lot more hope than she did…

* * *

Cynthia placed the envelope in front of her on the desk. "To whom do I owe the pleasure?" The Director asked curiously as she picked it up and tore apart the envelope. Letters were a great distraction from budget cuts.

"Just you wait and see…" Cynthia replied. The redhead pulled out what looked to be an invitation, there was fancy cursive writing and owls all scattered on the page.

"Its from Abby… A Thanksgiving Dinner?" Jenny said in confusion as she held the paper away from her in disbelief. Never did she think that she'd be invited to a Dinner with an employee, let alone Thanksgiving.

"Sounds like fun. So, are you going to go?" Cynthia asked out of curiosity. Jenny put the letter down and leaned back in her chair contemplating.

"It's tonight…" She said annoyed. "Why am I only getting this now?" Jenny snapped, causing Cynthia to back away a little. Something that pissed Jenny off heaps were invitations that were too late of a notice.

"She only gave it to me this morning…" Cynthia clarified. Jenny rolled her eyes at Abby's 'go with the flow' attitude to life. Tapping a hand on her desk, Jenny sighed.

"It would be rude to refuse…"

"Great! I'll go tell Abby." Cynthia said excitedly- practically prancing out of her office. The redhead put a hand to her forehead and rubbed it slightly. Looking at the clock, she realised that she only had a few hours to prepare herself...

* * *

The redhead tossed the red dress she had been wearing half way across her bedroom for it only to land on all the other dresses that she had tried on. Nothing fit. The dresses that did fit were way too tight on her and her small baby bump was visible. Only in her bra and underwear, she threw herself backwards onto the bed and looked up to the ceiling in frustration.

She was meant to be at Abby's in just under an hour and she literally didn't have anything she wanted to wear. Her phone started ringing on the bedside table and Jenny clambered over to see that the caller ID was Abby.

"Hey Director!" Abby shouted through the phone as Jenny placed it to her ear. "Just wondering if you'd be able to bring a dessert over. You see I was planning on making an apple crumble, but I realised I am really, really bad at baking and well… I guess you'll smell it when you walk in."

Jenny laughed and lay back on her pillow. "Well… You're doing better than me." Jenny sympathised. "I'll see what Naomi can conjure up."

"Oh, Director… I really should ask you for favours more. Got to go." Abby hung up and Jenny placed the phone back on the bedside table. Great. She had to find an appropriate outfit _and_ conjure up some dessert…

* * *

"I really thought she'd have been here sooner!" Abby said stressed as she paced around her dining room.

"Abby… Relax. It's only 6:15." Ziva tried to reassure from the table.

"Well… Yes, but… Everyone is really hungry, and I just want to make sure that everyone is getting fed and…" Her head irked around the room. "Gibbs isn't here either! OH, how did I forget Gibbs? Did he forget? He promised that he'd come."

"Abby!" Tony shouted. "I'm sure Gibbs is fine, he wouldn't miss your party for the world." He was sitting opposite Ziva with his head resting in the palms of his hands; tired of listening to Abby stressing out.

Ducky walked into the dining room carrying a tray of fruit kebabs. "NO Ducky! Not everybody is here yet! Put them back." Abby ordered, causing the old medical examiner to look at the goth in confusion.

"Abby… I think that- "The doorbell rang, and the goth sprinted towards the front door just in time to see Jenny standing outside with a cardboard box in her hand. "Director!" Abby practically threw herself towards Jenny- causing her to nearly lose her balance.

Her bear hug literally squeezed the air out of Jenny. After struggling to breathe for a minute, Abby took a step back and observed the redheaded woman. She was wearing a baggy white blouse and tight jeans with a long grey, woolly cardigan draping around her.

Jenny handed the box to Abby who took it eagerly and opened the box to see some nice chocolate lava cakes inside. "My housekeeper Naomi is very talented with baking." Abby's smile turned into a wide beam and gave Jenny another hug.

"Oh, it's perfect… Have you seen Gibbs? He said he'd be here…" Jenny's brow furrowed at the mention of 'Gibbs'. Of course, it was like him to be late for a Thanksgiving dinner.

"No." Jenny said simply. Abby led her inside to the dining room where she greeted Ducky, Tony and Ziva.

"Oh Director… Thank God you're here, Abby has been driving me crazy!" Tony hissed under his breathe.

"Hey! I heard that!" Abby yelled from across the room as she placed the lava cakes on another table. Jenny sat down casually on a chair and crossed a leg over her other leg.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic Tony!" Ziva reprimanded. Jenny took a good look at the ninja sitting across from her at the table. She had her sandy track pants on as usual as well as a plain black long-sleeved shirt.

"Why everything so dull! Its Thanksgiving for goodness sake!" Ducky announced returning back into the dining room with the tray of fruit kebabs. "Director! How lovely to see you!" Jenny stood up from the chair to give Ducky a gentle hug.

"You too Ducky…" Jenny whispered. After sitting back down she watched as DiNozzo fiddled with a glass of wine in his hand. He noticed the Director ogling his cup.

"You… You want some?" Tony asked her awkwardly as he pointed to his glass. Jenny shook her head and smiled- avoiding his eye contact.

"No thank you." Jenny politely declined, causing Tony and Ziva as well as Ducky to send her an odd look of confusion.

"But you… Always drink?" Tony said super confused. Jenny felt a deep blush come to her face as she quickly tried to find an excuse as to why she couldn't drink. Damn Jethro for getting her pregnant.

"I drove here myself DiNozzo, I don't particularly fancy driving back drunk."

"She has a point…" Ziva reasoned.

"Why don't you let Ziva drive you home? I hear you two used to be very good accomplices back in the day." Ducky said quietly as he sat down in a chair next to Ziva.

Jenny shook her head. "No offence Ziva, but you drive like a maniac." Tony -who was midway through his glass of wine- nearly spat out the contents in his mouth as he heard the comment. Ziva had a scowl plastered on her face- aimed towards Jenny. She immediately felt bad for saying the comment, but then laughed as she saw a slight smile break on Ziva's face.

Abby walked out from the kitchen attached, and Jenny watched her as she glanced out the window with her arms crossed together. Abby had her hair in two high buns on each side and was wearing a beautiful purple dress with witches and owls scattered all over. "GIBBS. GIBBS. GIBBS!" Abby shouted upon seeing Jethro walking up the stairs to her house.

Jethro nearly fell down the stairs upon getting pushed backwards by the force of Abby's bear hugs. "I thought you'd never come!" Abby whispered. Jethro patted her back slowly and she retreated, leading him inside to everybody else.

He was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of Cooking Turkey and food- something that he hadn't experienced since Shannon and Kelly had died. Upon walking into the dining room, he made eye contact with Tony first, followed by Ziva, Ducky and finally Jenny.

"Gibbs." Ziva said casually.

"Ziva. Didn't think that you celebrated thanksgiving." Jethro stated. The ninja shifted in her seat while twirling the glass of wine in her hand.

"I normally wouldn't but seeing as I had nothing to do tonight…" Ziva smiled and Gibbs nodded, taking a seat next to Jenny. He made eye contact with her leafy eyes and she gave him a small smile. Abby walked out of the kitchen holding the delicious turkey and placed it on the table.

"Thank God. I can finally eat. This is cooked properly right?" Tony joked. Abby put her hands on her hips and sent Tony an angry scowl.

"Gibbs. Can I hit him?" Jethro shrugged and poured himself a glass of wine.

"Would it make a difference?" He retorted.

Abby sent a hard whip to the back of Tony's head. "That's for making fun of my cooking." She sent him another hard whip on his shoulder. "That's for being impatient. Tony winced and shrivelled up like a tortoise causing Ziva to laugh.

"She did better than you ever would." Ziva said sarcastically.

"Abby… This looks amazing!" Jenny said enthusiastically. Abby grinned from ear to ear and sat down between Jethro and Ducky.

"Happy Thanksgiving!" She shouted. "And I'm sorry for the late notice and the lack of preparedness, but the nuns cancelled their dinner at the last minute so I couldn't go." Abby pouted.

"Why?" Ziva asked confused as she placed a fruit kebab onto her plate.

"Probably got caught up praying in the Abbey." Tony said obnoxiously with a mouthful of turkey in his mouth. Everybody sent him an annoyed glare. "Sorry…" He said sincerely, looking towards his plate.

"Turns out that the cook has a gastro virus…" Abby clarified. "Rather her than me." Abby raised her glass of wine up to the ceiling. "Cheers everyone!"

Everybody at the table held up their glasses including Jenny who had a glass of sprite in her hand- at least it sort of looked like alcohol she thought as she dinged the glass with everyone else's.

The dinner was mostly silent as everybody was left to their thoughts. For Jethro, it was the mourning of his relationship with Hollis. It was hard to admit, but he really felt bad. He should never have put the picture of the ultrasound on the fridge for the whole world to see.

Taking another bite of the delicious turkey, Jethro glanced over at Abby who was taking a long sip of her wine. He was excited to tell her about the baby- when the time came of course. He knew that she would literally not care about the circumstances that it was conceived and be all fussed over Jenny's health.

Ducky and Ziva would be a different story, he knew that Ziva would look on at Gibbs and Jenny never the same again, and Ducky would be in that awkward situation of not knowing what to say to ease the awkwardness. He really hoped though that something good would come of the new addition to all their 'family'.

Jethro glanced over towards DiNozzo who was still shoving food in his mouth like there was no tomorrow. He knew that once Tony knew of the pregnancy, he would mock, joke and make all sorts of silly comments about the baby as well as Jenny and Jethro himself. "I'm grateful that I have a family like you guys who I can rely on…" Abby said passionately- holding the glass of wine to her chest. "Your turn Ducky!"

Ducky cleared his throat and held up the glass in front of him. "I am grateful that… There are people in this world who dedicate their lives and safety to protect the land and people from these monsters of a creation we have to deal with on a daily basis…" Everybody looked at DiNozzo- whose turn it was- and who obviously wasn't paying that much attention to the rest of the table.

"DiNozzo! Get ya head in the game." Gibbs snapped across the table, Ziva snorted under her breathe and watched on as Tony awkwardly held up his glass of wine and struggled to find the words to say.

"I am uh… Grateful. Yeah, I'm grateful. Grateful that I get to catch a whole lot of dirt bags and grateful that I get to play pranks on people…" He glanced over at Ziva.

"You're so childish, Tony." She reprimanded.

"But that's why you love me…" He said in a playful tone. Ziva rolled her eyes and everybody laughed at the table. "Your turn, Zivah." Tony said as he placed the cup to his mouth.

The ninja placed her cup away from her on the table and fiddled with her hands-on top of the table. "I uh… am thankful that I get to experience the American culture. And the idiots…"

"Idioms?" Tony asked confused.

"That too…" All eyes were glued on Jenny. She placed her cup of sprite on the table and looked to Jethro for moral support. He gave her a short and sweet smile.

Truthfully, she didn't know what she was grateful for… Maybe it was her job. Maybe it was Jethro… Maybe it was everything. "It is hard to express what I am grateful for in words…" She began as she wiped a wisp of hair from her forehead. "But… I am thankful for all your lovely support the last couple years. For being there for me and…" Jenny paused, biting her lip. Maybe this was the perfect time to tell everyone about the pregnancy, but she decided against it. "For being an awesome team."

Jethro leant into Jenny's ear and quietly whispered. "Can I tell?" He leaned back and watched as the colour drained from her face as she made eye contact with his steel blue eyes. He really hoped that she would let him… He literally couldn't stand keeping the secret from anybody else. Jenny could feel looks of confusion and anxiousness from the rest of the table as she and Jethro had their own private conversation.

Slowly, Jenny nodded her head in consent and watched as Jethro's mouth turned into a very wide beam. Only a few occasions had passed where she had seen him smile like he was now. After she woke up from her surgery after receiving a bullet to the thigh, and when she had returned alive from a very dark op she had been assigned to in the Czech Republic.

Jenny had a surge of butterflies as she heard Jethro clear his throat and stand up. "This is a very special occasion for me… I am grateful for everybody here at this table, but most importantly of all…" Jethro pulled out the picture of the unborn baby from the inside of his pocket and pressed it against his chest- so that only the back of the picture was showing.

Everybody at the table glanced at the blank piece of paper currently stuck to Jethro's chest and watched as he turned it over to expose the picture of the ultrasound and of the small baby. Jenny heard gasps and silence from the table and watched as Abby's hands went over her mouth. Ziva's mouth was wide open. Tony spat out the wine that was in his mouth. Ducky eyed the picture very carefully.

"I'm grateful for the mother of my unborn child…" He glanced down at Jenny beside him who had tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. Tears of joy and nervousness. Never in her life had she felt so special and overwhelmed…

"YOU"RE HAVING A GIBBLET!" Shouted Abby with the most excitement Jenny had ever seen from the woman.

* * *

A/N: Thanks you guys for all the support behind this story, for all your encouragement and feedback. At the moment i'm thinking chapters are going to be updated no later than a month apart. Holidays are coming up for me soon, so i'll have some more time to write...


	4. Disconnected

A/N: Had a lot of fun writing this chapter! Enjoy the read.

* * *

"YOU'RE HAVING A GIBBLET!" Abby shouted with the most excitement Jenny had ever seen from the woman. The goth literally sprung out of her chair- nearly tripping over in the process- and gave Jenny a huge bear hug. She proceeded to Gibbs who willingly allowed the hug.

There was silence at the table from everybody else as they processed the words that had just come out of Jethro's mouth. Jenny bit the inside of her lip anxiously as she looked around; seeing the shocked and slightly disgraced looks towards her direction.

Ducky was twirling his glass of wine in his hand with a shell-shocked expression. Ziva was moving her mouth- obviously trying to find the right words to say- but nothing was coming out.

Suddenly all Jenny could feel was emptiness and embarrassment; like someone had punched her in the gut. Had she been expecting them to be shocked? Yes. But not to the point where they were literally speechless.

Wasn't it traditional for people to freak out and wish you congratulations when you made an 'exciting' announcement? Not that the conception of her and Gibbs' child was 'exciting' per say, but it would've been nice to not feel judged about having an unplanned pregnancy.

Jenny stood up abruptly as Jethro tried to squeeze himself out of the goths hug without success and walked into Abby's bathroom- locking the door behind her.

Jethro immediately felt bad; he should have discussed this with Jenny before telling everybody. He knew better than anyone how she didn't want to tell anybody for as long as possible, but Jethro just couldn't resist. It was an opportune time to announce, but it wasn't fair on Jenny.

Jethro glanced around the table to see DiNozzo -who still had his mouth wide open- staring towards him. "You can close your mouth now DiNozzo." Jethro muttered as he got up from the table- handing Abby the picture of the ultrasound- and walked towards the bathroom that Jenny had locked herself in.

Back at the table Ziva kicked Tony hard in the shin under the table. He winced in agony and sent the ninja a dangerous glare. "Restrain yourself… PLEASE Tony." Ziva pleaded.

"I…I…I was…"

"It's very rude to share the sight of your tonsils with everyone." Abby piped in.

"My Tonsils…What?" Tony asked confused. "Guys? Did you hear anything that just happened?" He whispered.

"Yeah… Jenny is pregnant with Gibbs' baby. They are having a Gibblet!" Abby whispered happily while she took in the blurry figure on the ultrasound picture.

"I win the pool!" Ducky announced, causing everyone to irk their heads towards the Scotsman. "I predicted that Gibbs would last 2 months with Hollis Mann!" He whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"And obviously Jenny is quite far along in her pregnancy." Ziva said stunned. "You are a genius Ducky!"

"Wait what? Why is he a genius?" Tony asked, trying to catch up with everything.

"Those two have had to have been broken up for ages if Jenny is to be pregnant. Ducky, how on earth do you predict everything so well?" Ziva asked curiously.

Ducky held up his glass of champagne and lifted his pinky finger. "Luck of the draw my dear…"

"What if the colonel didn't know?" Tony asked blandly. "I mean… it's an unplanned pregnancy, right?"

"Gibbs wouldn't cheat. Uh Uh." Abby whispered shaking her index finger from side to side. "Its not in his blood."

"I swear I've seen them at the baseball court- "

"Enough Tony… Please!" Ziva droned. "You and your stupid fantasies. Its not our business." She whispered pedantically.

"McGee doesn't know what he is missing out on…" Tony muttered in a state.

"Where is McGee?" Ducky asked.

"In Missouri, visiting his grandmother. He sent me a picture late last night." Abby said as she handed the picture across to Ducky.

"So that's where the probie has been probing… Abby why does he tell YOU everything, but never to me?" Tony asked deflated.

"Something called friendship Tony. You should try it." Ziva flirted causing Tony to furrow his brow.

"Jen?" Jethro asked quietly while knocking calmly on the door. He could hear muffled tears.

"Leave me alone Jethro…" She said croakily through the door. Jethro leaned his head against the door and sighed. Thankfully you couldn't see the door to the bathroom from the dining room, but he could hear laughter and chatter echoing through the hall.

"Just let me in Jen… and we can talk." Jethro heard a scoff through the door, and he could feel Jenny's eyes roll.

"You're only a few hours late…" She retorted in her usual sarcastic tone.

"Please." Jethro stated calmly. He heard silence in the bathroom as Jenny stopped the audible sobs, but she still didn't open the door. "You know that I'm not going to go anywhere… right?" He heard her sigh in frustration as the door unlocked swiftly; opening to reveal tear marks stained on her rosy cheeks and red, puffy eyes.

"I'm sorry Jen… You weren't ready." Jethro stated as he went to stroke her cheek. Jenny swatted his hand away and snuck into the kitchen and out of the back door to the patio; out of view of anybody else's eyes.

Jethro followed and kept his distance from the redhead. The last thing he needed on Thanksgiving was to have to go to the emergency room needing stitches- and he wasn't going to have a repeat of that. He watched as she stood at the end of the patio- crossing her arms together in frustration and looking up to the stars.

"We talked about this…" Jenny said with ire in her voice. "We said we wouldn't tell anybody for as long as possible."

"You nodded your head. You said that it was okay…"

"What other choice did I have?" Jenny shouted with rage. "If I said no, everyone would plague me for the rest of the week wondering what is going on!"

You're 13 weeks along Jen… People were going to find out eventually." Jethro reasoned.

"I know that Jethro! But you didn't have the right to tell EVERYBODY…"

"What makes you say that? I'm that baby's parent too…" Jethro said pointing towards her stomach. She scoffed and shook her head.

"You're not the elephant here. I AM." She brushed a wisp of hair behind her head. "Nobody needed to know tonight…"

Jethro- on the other side of the patio- leaned against the fence and sighed. "How WERE you going to plan on telling everyone then? Just casually in your office? Oh, thanks for the field report and by the way I'm pregnant."

Jenny shot him a dangerously cold glare in his direction. He zipped his mouth as he saw her fists tightening. "Something like that… At least it would give me a chance to take in all the judgement from each individual person." She retorted.

"That's what's bothering you? It's the judgement?"

"Yeah Jethro… It's the judgement." She spat back sarcastically. "I am being judged for carrying a child because I happened to get pregnant from an employee!"

"Technically you didn't employ me. I was here when you arrived." Jethro clarified. Jenny walked over slowly and dangerously, rolling her eyes at his childish qualities.

"Have you got… anything nice to say at all?" Jenny asked innocently with the rage still brewing in her voice. Jethro avoided her troubled gaze and bit the inside of his lip, looking to the floor. "I didn't think so…" She muttered.

"They're just in shock Jen… It was a big surprise for all of us."

"Shocked that we're having a kid out of wedlock? I HATE it Jethro. I absolutely HATE it. Its like I'm a teenage mom." Jenny said with anger in her voice. She felt tired. She didn't know if it was because of the pregnancy or because of having to deal with everyone else and their emotions. Probably a bit of both she concluded.

"People have kids out of wedlock all the time… You don't have to be married to have a child." Jenny snorted and shook her head.

"You think I don't know that Jethro? It's the rumours and the bullying that are going to bother me… and I DON'T need this crap in my life right now!" She shouted. Jenny returned to her place at the end of the patio, leaned her elbows against the fence railing and placed her head in her hands.

Jethro followed her and leaned right next to her. He knew that she couldn't stand him right now and that she would probably injure him one way or another, but it was a risk he was willing to take. "I know."

"No, you don't…" Jenny whispered. "I am the director of a federal agency. Pregnant. Facing judgement from all my co- workers. Stressed and…" She paused but ended up saying nothing more.

Jethro nodded and looked to where her gaze was, up at a shining star. "You think that isn't the same for me?" Jenny didn't answer and continued to gaze at the stars. "I've dug myself as deep as you have Jen. But don't… don't lock me out. I'm here to help… We help each other."

"Would have been nice for you to help my case if you actually bothered to communicate with me…" Jenny whispered. "Now I don't know what to say to everyone inside…" Jethro nodded and smoothed his hair.

"We tell them the truth…" He stated calmly. Jenny gazed into his deep blue eyes with the hint of excitement dancing in them and sighed.

"I don't know what the truth is anymore."

"We tell them… That we need support."

"You really think they're going to support us? Support our baby?" Jenny asked in disbelief.

"They won't judge us forever. Besides… At least now we've got Abby on our side." Jethro clarified.

Jenny glanced behind her at the window only to see a curtain move slightly. "They're watching us." The redhead muttered. Jethro smiled and walked to the patio door; opening it up and inviting everyone out.

DiNozzo made eye contact with Jenny for a mere moment but kept his distance away from her as Ziva and Ducky went to go wish her their congratulations. Gibbs walked over to Tony and gave him a whack on the back of the head. "Uh Boss… Don't mean to be rude, but… shouldn't you be the one getting slapped on the head?"

Gibbs couldn't help but smile and proceeded to pat Tony gently on the back. "Um… Congrats Boss…" Tony said awkwardly. "Hope it's a boy."

"Don't get your hopes up." Gibbs said neutrally.

"You think it's a girl?" Tony asked thinking of what the child could possibly look like if it were a girl. The man hadn't properly processed the information and he was already terrified of how the baby would turn out. He already knew that he preferred a mini Gibbs over a mini Jenny because the latter terrified the crap out of him.

Gibbs shot him a sarcastic glare. "I don't care what it is DiNozzo. It could be gender neutral for all I care." Tony gulped and took a sip of the drink in his hand.

"So… You uh… Obviously not with Hollis… Mann." The glare Gibbs was sending DiNozzo was enough for him to shut up. "Got it, Boss."

Jenny walked over sluggishly to DiNozzo and Gibbs with the entourage following her. "I see why you couldn't drink now." Tony realised. The redhead tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Go figure." She muttered back sarcastically. "If any of you mention this to anyone without my permission, including Secnav. I will kill you." Jenny turned on her heel and walked back inside into the warmth.

"Jeez someone is in a good mood." Tony stated sarcastically out of Jenny's earshot. Everyone sent him a glare- including Gibbs- and followed the redhead back inside for dessert.

* * *

Most normal human beings would gladly refuse the offer to work on Christmas Eve at 11pm, but not Jenny Shepard. Unfortunately for her, holidays and terrorists seemed to flourish exceptionally well together- especially on religious holidays.

The Director snatched another file from the edge of her desk and began to read through a current case that one of the teams at the agency was working on- regarding another terrorist threat. As she brushed a wisp of hair behind her ear, she heard her office door open and close. Thank goodness for her assistant Cynthia.

"Brought you a hot chocolate…" She whispered as she placed it down next to Jenny.

"Thank you, Cynthia. And I'm sorry I had to ruin your Christmas eve." She put down the file and looked Cynthia in the eyes. "I know how much you adore Christmas."

Cynthia shrugged sluggishly and sat down opposite Jenny on the other side of the desk, leaning back. "Its fine director. In all honesty, I'd rather be here than be singing carols with my family at church." Jenny raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"You do?" Cynthia nodded and picked up one of the hundred files laying idly on the desk.

"I guess its true what they say. 'The City Never Sleeps'."

"Very true indeed…" Jenny said in agreement. "But Secnav needs intel by tomorrow morning to make plans on how to deal with these attacks. If not sooner. They need to be done." Jenny muttered in a deep voice.

"Am I going to be fired?" Jenny irked her head towards Cynthia who had a concerned expression on her face; it was such an abrupt question.

"What… What on earth do you mean?" Jenny asked her out of pure confusion. There were days when Cynthia drove her up the wall, but never to the point where she was considering getting rid of her. The woman was a valuable asset to Jenny.

"When you have your baby." The woman clarified. Jenny made a face of realisation while nodding and put the file down on her desk.

"I'd never fire you Cynthia… As for the baby…" Jenny hesitated and looked to a painting on the wall. "You never know, there is every chance I may miscarry."

Cynthia furrowed her brow and looked at Jenny concerned. "You are nearly halfway through your pregnancy… What makes you think you might miscarry?" The redhead being questioned avoided Cynthia's gaze.

"You hear stories Cynthia. I'm surprised I have even gotten this far at all." Jenny said quietly. "I intend to be back in my office no later than two weeks after its born." The woman added, suddenly not wanting to be morbid anymore. The assistant sent her a shocked gaze causing Jenny to roll her eyes. "What?"

"Two weeks! Are... Are you sure? I mean babies have a schedule of their own and- "

"Cynthia. Since when did you know so much about being a parent?" Jenny asked amused. Cynthia shook her head and took a sip of the warm drink.

"I'm sorry director. I just… I don't really know how your going to do it…" Jenny laughed slightly and averted her eyes back to the file.

Lately she was having trouble talking about the life growing inside of her- even trying to have a conversation with Jethro was painful… Some days- like today- all she could think about was all the negative aspects of becoming a parent. Other days all she could hear in her head was Jethro's nagging voice telling her to look after herself. That was mostly daily.

It still felt strange and awkward to be discussing all these new plans and ideas. It was so unfamiliar and all she really cared to do was work to her hearts content for as long as she could.

"I ask myself that question every day." Jenny finally answered.

"What does Jethro think?" Jenny rolled her eyes upon hearing his name.

"Don't bring him into this… My plan is final, and I intend to keep it that way. Unless something happens otherwise." Cynthia nodded and continued to read the file she was holding. An alarm clock went off and Jenny hoped up out of her seat and began to head for the door- taking files and bits and pieces with her.

"I have to give the National Intelligence Director a briefing. It shouldn't take more than an hour top." Jenny said calmly.

"Don't forget your hot chocolate!" Cynthia warned causing the redhead to powerwalk back to her desk to grab the warm cup on top of everything else she was carrying.

* * *

"I assure you that NCIS and the CIA are working hand in hand trying to find a solution to these threats. Extra security has been deployed around the marine bases as well as the pentagon and White House. But there is no telling where or when this group is deciding to attack." Jenny announced to the National Intelligence Director.

"Who is working on this case?"

"My very best teams."

"I assume that they are well trained in their positions and jobs to be able to deal with such threats as these?"

"Yes Sir. They have had excellent training. Over five years' worth each." Jenny responded.

"They will need to be quick on their feet when the time comes."

"I am aware of that Sir."

"Keep me posted."

"You can be sure of that." Jenny indicated to the technician to end the call. The room sprung into silence. Who knew that talking to the director of National Intelligence about terrorist threats could take over an hour? Jenny literally fell on a seat and leaned her head back. Her eyes she swore were about to collapse and her feet felt so tired, having to stand for so long.

Jenny didn't know if it was just gas or the uncomfortable sharp constipation pains she was feeling in her stomach- something she realised had come with being pregnant- but she felt something dodgy go on in her stomach. It felt weird. Almost like a tumbling motion. Jenny couldn't help but let out a little whimper out of unfamiliarity- catching the technicians attention across the room.

"Okay Director?" The woman asked concerned. Jenny laid a hand over her slightly swelled stomach and used the other hand to wave off the concern.

"I'm okay, just a little bloated." The technician nodded- satisfied with Jenny's response- and turned back to her computer screen. It had become common knowledge throughout the agency and other agencies that Jenny was expecting. Some days were good in the sense that nobody seemed to bother her at all. But most days were long days of people- particularly men- staring blankly at her visible bump, wondering how something like that could happen to the Director.

Jenny just lay in the seat with her hand still placed on her stomach. The tumbling motion happened again, but this time it felt like tiny butterflies flying around. The realisation hit her that the tumbling motion was actually her baby moving.

She took a deep breathe in and tried to enjoy the little moment, but she felt uncomfortable in a room with another person she didn't know that well. Never for the life of her would she ever understand why was the bonding process with her baby so difficult. She was certain Jethro had bonded with it more than she had.

The phone in her pocket vibrated and she answered it promptly without glancing at the caller ID- trying to distract herself from the kicking. "Hello?"

"Jen?" Jenny rubbed her eyes upon hearing Jethro's voice. She should have known that he would call. He always did when he could.

"Jethro. Something you need?" She asked with the tiredness evident in her voice.

"No." He replied swiftly. "Why haven't you been answering your calls?"

"Jethro. Some days I swear you forget that I am the Director of a federal agency." Jenny snapped. "I've been busy. Its not like we haven't got a dozen terrorists sending us threats at every hour of the day."

"They're bluffing." Jenny scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I can see why they didn't pick you for Director." She heard Jethro laugh on the other side of the line. For once, it made her smile.

"Yeah… Well. How many times do those terrorists actually go through with those threats?"

"More often than you think…" Jenny retorted. "What do you want Jethro? It's unlike you to just call up randomly in the middle of night."

"Well… You weren't answering your phone and I just wanted to talk…"

"About?"

"Us. The baby." Jenny rubbed her forehead. Internally she was getting frustrated. Nearly every conversation that they had was about their unborn child, and Jenny was beginning to get sick of it- not that Jethro knew any better.

"Okay. I'm good. Baby is good. I had a hot chocolate. I took a nap. I'm looking after myself." Jenny droned on, telling Jethro what she usually did when he bothered to call. In all honesty he was calling up and occasionally visiting her more often than he did prior to their conversation at Thanksgiving.

"Yeah. Anything else I should know about?" Jenny bit her lip.

"I not entirely sure, but I think I just felt it kick…" She heard Jethro's voice hitch on the other side of the line.

"What does it feel like?"

"Weird. Strange. Uncomfortable." Jethro couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"You're just being dramatic."

"Not as dramatic as you!" Jenny retorted- remembering the countless times Jethro had refused to buy her a coffee.

"Hey! Don't blame a man for being protective. Tell me what it actually feels like."

"You'll just have to come and find out for yourself…" This is what Jenny enjoyed doing to Jethro on the phone. Torturing and flirting with him. She had no idea why neither one of them had decided to get back together in a relationship, there was nothing stopping them. But with the amount of stress that work had brought, there literally was no time.

"I'm not you!" He stated annoyed causing Jenny to laugh tiredly.

"It feels a lot like something being tumbled around in a washing machine I'd imagine. I don't know how to describe it…" There was a pause from the both of them as Jethro processed her words.

"Why are you working on Christmas Eve Jen? Go Home. Get some rest."

"I'm not going home. I've got paperwork that needs to be done by tomorrow otherwise Secnav will fry my ass."

"I'll fry your ass if you don't get home soon and you can trust that I'll actually do it."

"Whatever Jethro, you'll never have the guts to do that to me."

"You sure about that?"

"Pretty confident. Here's a thought… why don't you just hang up and stop worrying?"

"Not a chance." Jethro said stubbornly

"The more you talk, the longer I have to stay."

"Here's a thought… Leave that paperwork alone and actually celebrate something in your life."

"Christmas? Didn't know you were a fan of Santa, Jethro. We celebrated Thanksgiving. Pretty much the same as Christmas."

"No not really." Jenny sighed and rubbed her stomach gently.

"Jethro. I've really got to go…"

"Hey Jenny…" She smiled and closed her eyes.

"What?"

"Merry Christmas." He said calmly. She pressed the end call button and flipped her cell phone shut. The last thing she needed was any more distractions…

* * *

Opening the door to her office, Jethro was astonished to find the redheaded Director passed out on the sofa. Her hair had obviously been in a tight bun the night prior; hair clips were scattered all over the table in what he assumed was a tiredly frustrating attempt to get them out. Gently closing the door shut behind him- unlike his previous encounters in the office- he walked over to the sofa diagonal to the one she was sleeping on and slumped down.

Truth be told, Jethro had spent the majority of the night working on one of his boats. Kelly's. He never usually celebrated Christmas. Mostly because everything from the tinsel on the trees to the carols reminded him of his little girl. He reminisced of the way that she used to sing those carols- out of tune and so innocently.

He wished that Jenny would just relax a bit. The man could sense that she seemed to not be happy in her pregnancy and part of him wished that he could change that. He wanted her to feel the excitement he felt every time they went to an ultrasound and the butterflies he would feel when the calendar changed to a new month- a step closer to seeing their creation. The trouble was he just didn't know how to talk to her. Every time he tried, she would change the subject or pretend that nothing was wrong at all.

Watching her while she slept, he realised that she looked so peaceful, so elegant. It was as if there were no worries in the world whatsoever. Taking a sip of his coffee, he stood up and had a little nosy around her desk which was scattered in files and paperwork.

Well-known names and terrorist cells popped out at him. As well as intel that there were multiple terrorist cells working within the DC area. It sent a surge of panic through him. It was Christmas morning; people would be waking up to celebrate. Kids would be opening presents. No wonder Jenny seemed so tense.

As if on cue, the redhead's eyes jerked open and she quickly stood up- ruffling her hair into a decent appearance. Her brow furrowed when she saw the sight of Jethro standing behind her desk. He couldn't help but give her a smirk. "Jethro! What the hell!" She rushed over and pushed him away from her desk as if putting him at a distance would keep the information on the papers confidential.

"Relax Jen, its only 7." Jethro reassured from the other side of her desk as she rummaged around and cleared everything up.

"I'm due to speak to speak to Secnav in an hour… shit." She muttered. Jethro stood back effortlessly- sipping on his coffee as if to mock Jenny. "Have you got anything better to do than just stand there!" The woman snapped.

Jethro rolled his eyes and sat down in the chair. He watched as Jenny threw a paper cup into the bin beside her. "See you got home on time last night Jen." Jethro said blandly. She shot him a typical 'Gibbs' Glare that she had picked up from him.

"NOT now Jethro. I don't have time for your STUPID remarks. What are you even doing here?" She said sternly.

He looked out the window behind her. "Those Terrorists will destroy whatever plans you have in mind."

Jenny shot him a look. Of course, he had helped himself to her desk. "That's confidential."

"Is it now? Last time I checked, leaving those papers on your desk for the whole world to see isn't really called confidential." Jethro said smirking at the end- which only irritated the redhead even further.

"Last time I checked, barging into a Director of a Federal Agencies office unannounced is illegal... Not to mention an invasion of privacy."

"Not if you're their partner." Jenny ignored the comment and fell into her seat. Chucking her glasses on, she began to type something on her computer. Jethro assumed she was just replying to another one of the hundred emails she received on a daily basis. "Who have you got working on this case?"

"Agent Lachlan's team."

"Jane's team? Why not mine?" Gibbs asked a little forlornly.

"Agent Lachlan's team has had specialised training dealing with these kinds of threats. If you bothered to acknowledge them, you might have picked that up." Jenny retorted.

"Al Qaeda?"

"Confidential." She snapped back. Jethro looked away and bit his lip. Jenny definitely still hadn't lost her stubborn streak.

"You know that team is going to need backup Jen. Let my team in on it." Gibbs said as he stood up.

"No. You need to be focusing on the Petty Officer Scott Warner's murder case."

"It's finished. Just need to write up the report." Gibbs reasoned. He watched as the redhead rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"Jethro…" She said dangerously quiet. "You know how I feel when you ask to be in on things that you shouldn't be."

"Then let me in on it…"

"Why? What is it going to achieve for you?" She said making eye contact with his deep blue eyes. Jethro paused for a moment.

"Its Christmas Day Jen. If an attack is to happen today, it could supersede that of 9/11."

"Nothing could ever supersede 9/11." She retorted.

"You never know… Thousands could die today and if one of your teams doesn't have efficient back up-"

"Jethro. We are working with National Intelligence and the CIA. There are plenty of 'teams' and back up available." Jenny reassured him. Jethro sat back down in relent and sighed.

"Why is NCIS investigating this?" He asked her quietly. Jenny hesitated for a mere moment wondering if she should tell him. "Jen!" Gibbs snapped when she didn't answer.

"The marine base in Quantico have been receiving terrorist threats from an unknown source since last week. We don't know who is sending them. The only thing we know is that the message was received through an untraceable email… We're in the dark for this one." She said solemnly.

"They're targeting just the marine bases?" Jethro asked. Jenny shook her head as she took off her glasses.

"CIA received intelligence just a couple nights ago that the threats had come from a small bungalow in south east China. Apparently, they were able to hack into a database and reroute the email back to where it was sent."

"China? What have the Chinese got to do with this?"

"That's what Secnav wants us to find out… And we still don't know. Cynthia and I searched through all these terrorist files last night. Nothing in them at all indicating or showing any sign of Chinese Terrorism let alone any plans."

"What if its not China? What if its another terrorist group?" Jethro asked.

"It has to be China. The only other reason I can think of is that the person who sent the email is using China to cover their true identity."

"The Chinese government blocks most emails sent in and out of the country. Whoever sent that email must be using an email from somewhere within the Chinese Government." Jenny rolled her eyes.

"You haven't even been fully briefed on this whole situation and you're already accusing the Chinese Government of terrorism." Jenny said in disbelief.

"Tell me then. If its not them, who did send it?"

Jenny shook her head "My guess would be someone low under the radar, rich and powerful."

"McGee is able to trace these sorts of things. Let him in on it." Jethro suggested.

"You really I haven't tried that already Jethro? The name is Director not stupid." Jenny said sarcastically.

"Yeah… Well. The CIA aren't as good as McGee…"

"Special Agent Timothy McGee is not briefed on this case Jethro… If he knows what we know, he could jeopardise my job…"

"Well don't tell anyone then…" Jethro retorted.

"I have to tell Secnav…" Jethro sent her a dangerous look and Jenny sighed. "Look Jethro… This whole situation is serious, and I can't let junior agents in on terrorism!" Jenny snapped.

"Do you really believe that people's lives come after the what the law believes Jenny?"

"No of course not, but all our jobs are on the line…"

"Who gives a damn about the law? Secnav asks you what you have found out, tell him that you've been fighting to protect those innocent people's lives." Jethro growled under his teeth. Jenny sent him an empathetic look.

"You know that's not how it works Jethro…"

"It's a risk that I'm willing to take." Jenny eventually nodded in consent after spending a few moments pondering her future.

"You really think that McGee will be able to trace this bastard in under an hour?"

Jethro rolled his eyes and took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialled McGee's number. "Have you met McGee before Jen?" Jethro asked her sarcastically as he raised the phone to his ear. "McGee! I have a job for you."

* * *

"Back up teams are in place." A representative of the CIA said from the back row of seats in MTAC. Jenny stood in front of the screen, terrified not only for the safety of her agents, but for the safety of the country she was willing to protect.

"Agent Lachlan. Are your team in place?" Jenny said forcefully into her headset.

"In place Director." The woman whispered back.

"On three. One, two, three." Jenny counted down.

The teams in place moved into the building that McGee had traced the email to swiftly and with control. Representatives of the CIA and National Intelligence all had their eyes glued to the screen as Agent Lachlan's camera on her helmet showed the surroundings. Sure enough, the suspected terrorists were seen, and all teams had no hesitation in arresting them.

"Isolate in freeze frame." Jenny called out to the technician as she got a good picture of one of the terrorists. "Abby?"

"At your service, Director." The goth answered through her headset.

"Pictures of these terrorists are being sent down to you. How long until we can get a name on them?"

"Depends on the quality of the pictures. Up to an hour top."

Jenny growled under her breathe. "We don't have an hour." She muttered to herself. "Thankyou Abby. Do that as fast as you can."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Brodie? What's the status?" A CIA agent working in MTAC asked. The CIA team member in question responded efficiently.

"All targets have been secured. Searching the building currently for any potential threats."

"Send them in." The National Security Director urged.

"To which agency would that be Sir?" The team member asked.

"CIA."

"Director Shepard, just got word that the building is clear and secure." Agent Lachlan announced.

"Alright. I need your unit to stay there and analyse the crime scene. CIA team will take the targets into custody. National Intelligence will take all known weapons and destroy them. Great Job team."

"Yes Director." Lachlan answered. Jenny signalled to the technician to cut off the feed and everybody in the room clapped. Jenny made eye contact with Jethro sitting right at the very back of the room and he gave her a short and sweet smile to which Jenny gladly returned.

As soon as all agency liaisons and representatives had said their goodbyes and talked to Jenny, the woman walked to go sit next to Jethro at the back of the room. She placed her headset around her neck and looked Jethro right in the eyes. His blue orbs calmed her down.

"Okay… I admit. We would never have caught them had you not suggested McGee." Jenny hesitated. "Thankyou." She whispered.

Jethro took a sip of his drink and looked to the screen. "Are you going to relax now? Director." Jethro said amusingly. Jenny shrugged her shoulders and rubbed her stomach soothingly.

"Hmmm. It would be nice to have a decent sleep in my own bed…" She said flirtingly. Jethro raised an eyebrow.

"Uh- huh." Jethro replied in monotone. He stood up from his seat, but Jenny pulled him back down.

"You wanted to see how this feels." Jenny said motioning for Jethro to give her his hand. She grabbed it and placed it on the spot where the baby was moving most.

"I can't feel anything…" He said blandly. His hand laid there for another few minutes before he decided that the baby wasn't going to move anymore.

"Maybe it's still too small for other people to feel…" Jenny said calmly. She rested her head in the headrest and closed her eyes.

Jethro glanced over at her and smiled. "I'll be able to feel it one day…"

"I've been a real jerk to you lately…" Jenny began. Jethro tilted his head towards her, interested in what she had to say. "About the baby and… just you in general. I'm Sorry." She said forlornly.

"You haven't been happy." Jethro said in understanding. Jenny nodded her head slowly and bit her lip- avoiding his eye contact.

"I'm waiting for the day where I wake up and I don't feel ashamed to be pregnant." Jethro nodded his head. "I know I should be happy. Excited even, but I'm not… Is that normal?"

Jethro looked away from her and bit his lip. "Every pregnancy is different."

"That's not what I'm asking though. Every mother I have ever known has been so happy being a parent and I just… don't know how they do it." Jenny said sadly. "I was never meant to be a mother."

Jethro shook his head and pulled Jenny close to him. He placed a small kiss to the top of her head and breathed in her flowery scent. "Don't ever say that again… You'll feel it eventually." Jethro tried to reassure. "Merry Christmas Jen."

Jenny patted his chest and nodded. "Merry Christmas Jethro." Hearing the sound of his calm beating heart soothed the redhead. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by Cynthia rushing into MTAC. Jenny sighed and bit her lip. "What now Cynthia?" Jenny snapped- tired of having to play politics.

"I'm Sorry Director, but Secnav is desperately for an update."

"Tell him I'm unavailable. The CIA director is perfectly capable of 'Updating' him."

"He specifically asked for you." Cynthia said quietly. Jenny rolled her eyes in relent.

"Guess that's my cue to go…" Jethro muttered. Jenny sat up and looked Jethro in the eyes. "Be careful Jen…"

Somehow, she knew that he wasn't just talking about her health, but the illegal activities they had participated in earlier.

* * *

"GIBBS, GIBBS, GIBBS!" Abby shouted from across the bullpen. Jethro -who was walking out of the elevator- turned around in time to see Abby bowl into him and give him a massive hug. "Merry Christmas Gibbs!"

"You got something for me abs?" Gibbs asked.

McGee -who was sitting at his desk idly- was watching on forlornly. "Hey! Abby! What about me?" Abby removed herself from Gibbs and ran over to McGee- ignoring Gibbs' question.

"I would never forget you McGee…" Abby said calmly. Gibbs walked over towards his desk and saw that there was a wrapped gift sitting next to his keyboard.

"I thought that… seeing as though you're going to be a father Gibbs. I brought you a little something." Abby said happily. Gibbs forced a smile and sat down at his desk. He took the wrapped gift in his hands and shook whatever was inside, but no noise came out.

"Gibbs! You're supposed to open it, not shake it!" Abby lectured. Gibbs held a neutral expression and placed the gift down.

"Sorry." He said simply.

"Open it! Open it!" Abby said with excitement. Gibbs did as he was told and ripped apart the red and white Christmas wrapping paper. What was inside made Gibbs laugh. It was a white mini jumpsuit with #1 Jibblet written on the front.

"Abby… Jibblet?" Gibbs began but was interrupted by Abby.

"Oh right… Yeah um, Jibblet. You and the Directors names combined together. You know?" Jethro nodded and put the little jumpsuit down. "I didn't know whether you are gonna have a boy or a girl, so I ended up just getting something gender neutral. Tony did say that you said that you didn't care what gender it is so…"

"Thanks Abby."

"You're welcome. Hope the director likes it… Where is the director anyway?"

"Busy." Gibbs said blandly.

"Aren't we all…" Abby began to turn on her heel, however stopped in her tracks. "Um… I dusted the prints off those photos that you sent to me."

"And?" Gibbs asked, suddenly perking up. Abby was referring to the mysterious, anonymous package that had shown up on his doorstep the night prior.

"Jackson Gibbs?" Abby muttered sadly. McGee's ears perked up and looked towards Gibbs' messy desk.

Jethro sighed and began walking towards the elevator, he gestured for Abby to follow behind. Once inside, Jethro turned on the emergency switch and looked Abby directly in the eyes. "You never told me about your relationship with your father Gibbs…" She muttered confidently. Abby could never be afraid of Gibbs- even when he was angry.

"You searched him up?" Gibbs asked blandly. Abby nodded slightly and pulled out a small see-through bag with the photos inside.

"I had to Gibbs… Now you know who sent you those photos." She handed the photos of Kelly and Shannon's gravestones to Jethro -who was reluctant to take them. He looked at their graves with sadness embedded in his eyes "I take it your relationship is…bad." Abby said quietly.

Jethro didn't respond and ended up shoving the pictures in the inside of his blazer. "Go home Abby… Its Christmas Day…" He flicked the switch back up and the elevator sprang into life.

"But Gibbs…" Abby began.

"Don't mention it to the others." The goth held a confused expression and flicked the switch back on.

"Woah… Never done that before." She muttered as the elevator halted. Gibbs avoided her eye contact. "This is your father… He obviously wants to come into contact with you."

"The hell he does…" Gibbs muttered under his breathe.

"What happened Gibbs?" Jethro shook his head and flicked the switch off. Abby's eyebrows raised in the hope that Jethro would say something, but he didn't. "What do I tell McGee? He was there too…"

"Nothing Abby…" Gibbs said blandly as the elevator doors opened. Abby watched as he walked down the hallway- out of sight. She had more questions than she had answers and she was determined to figure it all out; that started by telling McGee.


	5. Stay With Me

**A/N:** So firstly, I have to apologise to everyone that this chapter is sooooo late. Unfortunately, i have been suffering from the dreaded writers block. I would rather write you guys a dramatic and exciting story to read than a 'oh I need to upload a chapter around now so I'll upload a really rushed and not well thought through chapter'. It really means a lot to me that you guys are enjoying this story. I promise that from now on the chapters will be uploaded more regularly - most likely monthly.

So without further ado, here is the next chapter...

* * *

Early February 2008

"Director in?" Jethro Gibbs asked as he strolled through the door to Cynthia's office. Cynthia- who was busy answering a phone call- watched intently as the silver haired man drifted towards her desk. She put down the phone hesitantly and made eye contact with his steel blue eyes.

"Unlike you to not barge right in." She snarked.

Gibbs couldn't help but smile a little. "I've learnt a few lessons…"

"Uh-huh… Didn't she tell you?" Gibbs shook his head and stared blankly at Cynthia. "She is in Paris for the rest of the week." The expression plastered on Gibbs face was mundane. "Obviously not…" She muttered as she looked back at the phone.

"Whose acting as Director then?"

"Vance." Gibbs nodded as he rested his hand on the handle to Jenny's Office.

The former FBI agent glanced up from a report as Jethro guided himself through the door- closing it gently behind him.

"Jethro… I've been waiting for you to show up." Gibbs half smiled. Leon and he hadn't always had the easiest of friendships- particularly when Leon would take over for Fornell at the FBI whenever he was sick.

"Vance. Filling in for the director?"

"That a question or a statement?" Gibbs shrugged. "Some would say that it's a small mercy…" The comment made both men laugh. Vance stood up and shook Jethro's hand. "The Scott Larson case… I heard about the mishap that occurred this morning in the basement."

He was referring to the suspect that Tony DiNozzo had accidently punched while trying to remove him from the vehicle. "Didn't think it would take you that long to hear the story…" Gibbs said quietly.

"I trust that you and agent DiNozzo know the consequences of such an action. The last thing your director and I need is to be justifying a lawsuit to SECNAV." Gibbs seated himself in a chair at the table.

"DiNozzo barely touched the guy Leon."

"Really? Because I've heard differently… Not just from the suspect, but from other co-workers as well." Jethro frowned.

"You've heard everything? In the 3 hours that you've been acting as director?"

"She has informed me well…" Gibbs bit the bottom of his lip- taking a moment to let Leon's words sink in.

"Yeah… I'm sure she has." He replied sarcastically.

"She asked me to pass on a message…" Gibbs couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and watched as Vance pulled out a small white envelope from underneath a pile of paperwork.

Gibbs followed Leon over towards Jenny's desk and took the envelope from his hand. Jethro's name was written on the front in Jenny's cursive writing.

He could feel Vance's cold but at the same time warm glare fixated on his blank face as he traced his hands over the small envelope. She must have gone to another ultrasound. Without him. Why else would she send him an envelope? There must be some pictures of their unborn child in there.

They had made an agreement that whenever something important came about their unborn child- whether it be a file, picture or anything financial- the information would be stored in a safe at Jenny's apartment. She couldn't risk anyone seeking private information involving their new 'family' not with both its parents being such high-profile targets for criminals.

Perhaps it was Jethro's job to place the pictures in the safe. Or maybe she wanted him to have a few pictures for himself. One thing was for certain though… He wasn't entirely sure why he was being given an envelope from Jenny.

Jethro began to turn away, however felt a strong hand on his left shoulder. "I forgot to wish you a congratulations… I heard about Jenny's pregnancy." Gibbs looked at the hand on his shoulder blankly.

Gibbs smiled. "I'm assuming that its yours?" Vance added.

"What makes you say that?" Vance removed his hand and smiled casually.

"Don't deny it Jethro… I know you two have a history." Jethro looked away and forced a smile. The last thing he really wanted to talk about was his previous sex life with Jenny.

"You don't know the half of it Leon."

"You're right. I don't. I can tell you this though… don't let it get out of hand." Gibbs listened on carefully as Vance whispered the last part. He nodded as he placed his hand on the door. "Send DiNozzo up when you get the chance…"

Jethro nodded and repeated the words Vance had told him in his head. _Don't let it get out of hand. _Wasn't it already all out of hand?

* * *

Tony DiNozzo sat at his desk feeling depressed. Every time a co-worker passed by, they would send him a look of disgust and disappointment- much to Ziva's pleasure. He hadn't meant for the incident that had occurred down in the basement to become an incident at all. He was merely trying to control an out of control suspect.

Ziva preferred it better when Tony was making an ass of himself than seeing him sitting on forlornly doing nothing at his desk. She stood up from her desk and strolled over to sit on the edge of his desk. He didn't even make eye contact with her.

"Don't beat yourself up over it Tony… It was just an accident." She tried to reassure.

Tony leaned back in his chair and looked up to the roof. "I could lose my job Ziva… I could lose everything I've ever worked for. My future… My sanity. Not to mention all my money."

"Oh Tony. Don't be so ridiculous. Things could be worse."

"You mean that it could be worse than the entire agency knowing that you punched a supposedly 'innocent' man? And that I have the potential to get into deep mud with the Director? How much worse could it get Ziva!" Tony snapped in despair.

"I mean that you could have punched the guy and he could have died. Tony." Ziva whispered referring to the time that she had punched a guy in the jugular whilst in the elevator and it killed him.

"Oh right… You're trying to play the sympathy card with me, aren't you?" Ziva raised her eyebrows. He had definitely lost his marbles.

"The nice card? Tony… get your head back in the game. Gibbs is sorting it out with the director and I'm sure that everything will turn out to be just some big misunderstanding." DiNozzo crossed his arms together and looked in the direction of Ziva.

"A misunderstanding. Right. How do I explain that to the director?" Ziva shrugged her shoulders and strolled on back to her desk as she saw Gibbs walking down the stairs.

"DiNozzo. Vance wants to see you up in the director's office." Gibbs said blandly as he chucked the white envelope in a draw under his desk.

"Vance? Are you flipping kidding me? I thought Jenny was going to be bad… but Vance- "

"DiNozzo." Gibbs said quietly- Tony's voice giving him a slight headache. Tony walked away forlornly. Gibbs glanced at the envelope in the draw and pushed the drawer closed. It could wait. He had a very angry suspect to contend with.

* * *

Agent Timothy McGee walked into the goth scientists lab holding a Caf-Pow in one hand and a large box of evidence under his arm.

"Abby!" He yelled when he didn't see her at the computer. The sliding doors to the next room opened and emerged Abby holding a bright blue jacket.

"McGee. There's no need to yell… I'm right here."

"Sorry I just… Gibbs is on my butt to get this evidence sorted out." Abby took the box of evidence from under McGee's arm as well as the Caf-Pow.

"How do you think I feel McGee? Being under constant pressure to give Gibbs results and also to make sure that I can give you guys stuff that will help you solve whoever murdered this guy."

"Gibbs is nice to you Abby… Tony and I… Gibbs… Has problems with- especially Tony." Abby sighed as she thought about Tony's incident earlier.

"Poor Tony. The whole agency knows what happened. Why would he think to do something like that? You know McGee… I've always loved Tony. Ever since I met him, he's always made me laugh. Made me cry. Made me angry. He's been like a big brother to me. Now I don't even know what his problems are anymore."

McGee walked over sullenly towards Abby. "It's going to be okay Abby…"

"No, it's not McGee! Tony could lose his job. And I'll be alone down here all day feeling depressed and bored all because Tony made some stupid and idiotic mistake." Abby opened the box and sighed. "Frying pans? Are you serious McGee? How are these going to help solve this murder?"

"Gibbs said to collect anything that could lead us to the murder weapon… I was just following orders." Abby placed the lid back on the box and turned to face McGee.

"I know you were. I'm sorry I just… I'm worried about Tony."

"Me Too…" McGee whispered.

"But I will dust, poison, burn, scan and send these frying pans through x-rays if it helps save your butt from Gibbs." Abby said confidently.

McGee watched as she walked through the sliding doors to her private computer. "Speaking of Gibbs. Have you heard anything new about the Gibblet?" Abby asked.

McGee shook his head as he sat on the edge of the desk. "Have you heard anything more on Gibbs' father?"

Abby frowned. "If you call eating Taco's interesting. I managed to track down an old credit card of his… It looks like he likes to spend his weekends at a Mexican restaurant in New Jersey. Nothing else was on the card except that."

"That would explain why Gibbs loves to travel to Mexico so much…" Abby smiled.

"It doesn't explain why Gibbs is so hesitant of his father… I mean you'd think that after your whole family died the least your father could do is be there for you. I wonder what happened…"

"Abby… Have you ever considered that Gibbs doesn't want to connect with his father?" McGee asked.

"But he has to McGee!" Abby pouted. He watched as she stood up and paced around the room. "He is going to have a new child that doesn't even know its grandparents… What kind of a life is that?"

"You're doing this for the kid aren't you?" Abby stopped pacing and looked at McGee blankly.

"I'm doing this for all of them McGee…"

* * *

He had been wanting to call her all day, but with the watchful eye of acting director Vance and the constant bickering between Tony and Ziva, it was impossible. At least when he was working. As he held the white envelope in his hand, Jethro sat down on an unstable stool in his basement and began to tear open the envelope. He was surprised to find that there were no pictures inside, except a small sentence on a piece of paper. '_Pictures in you know where_…'

Now Gibbs was even more confused. Why was she being so secretive? He wanted to know why she had left for Paris without her telling him. He was angry. She had gone to another ultrasound without telling him. It seemed these days that all she was doing was slipping away. He didn't care if it was 4 in the morning in France. He needed to talk to her.

He had to admit it though, part of it was his fault. He'd been distant with her for the last month; mainly because he couldn't stand the constant complaints about her growing stomach and the nagging he received from her at work on a daily basis. Jethro pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled her number.

The phone rang for at least five minutes before a very angry Jenny answered. "Jethro! What the hell is so urgent that couldn't wait until a decent time!" She snapped. Jethro smiled.

"Hello to you too Jen..." He could hear her huff in the background. "Paris good?"

"What do you want?" Jethro knew that tone from Jenny well.

"To talk." There was a moment of silence as Jenny contemplated his answer.

"Let me get this straight. I've only gotten about 3 hours of sleep and you decide to wake me up to have a conversation about… Whatever you want to 'talk' about."

"You're having trouble sleeping?" There was silence for a moment.

"Yeah… Between having to get up and pee all the time and being jetlagged…" Jenny answered a little more calmly.

"You went to another ultrasound without me?"

"Without you? What the hell are you on about? I haven't even been near the place…" Jethro's brow furrowed. What was the meaning of the message in the envelope then?

"You didn't have one?" Jenny scoffed in the background.

"Why would I? I've already had one… And that was with you. If you can't remember."

"The message you gave to me… I assumed- "

"Yeah Jethro… You 'assumed.' You haven't actually checked the safe, have you?" Jethro sighed and stood up to rub his hand over his newly painted blue boat.

"It would be easier if we could just have a conversation where we could be open with each other and not be secretive…" He said honestly. Jethro listened to Jenny's breathing over the phone.

"We are open with each other Jethro…" She said almost defensively.

"Yeah… So open that I knew you'd be in France for the rest of the week shopping to your hearts content…"

"Who said I was shopping?" She spat. Jethro smiled.

"Every time we went to Paris you couldn't keep your little hands off all of the jewellery. And that was when we were undercover…"

"That… Was over ten years ago." She tried to justify.

"What's changed?" Jethro asked her.

"You know what has changed Jethro." She whispered.

"What pictures are in the safe?"

"Why don't you go over and see for yourself? Seeing as you're wide awake and have got nothing better to do." Jethro rolled his eyes.

"I haven't had time. And it would be easier if you just told me."

"Not over the phone… If it were something 'non- harmful' I'd tell you, but not… not this." Jenny managed to stutter out.

"Jen if this has something to do with our child, I need to know…" Jethro almost begged her.

"NO. It doesn't. I don't know what it is." Jethro couldn't but frown. This whole situation was getting more puzzling by the minute.

"Alright. I'll check it out…" Jethro said after thinking for a moment.

"Don't stress over it Jethro… I'm sure it's nothing." Jenny tried to reassure him. Jethro nodded and flipped his cell phone closed- breaking the connection between them. What the hell was going on?

* * *

After Jethro's phone call a few hours earlier, Jenny could not for the life of her get back to sleep. She thought about the strange delivery that was placed at her doorstep a few days ago. Whatever it was, whatever it meant terrified her. It wasn't unusual though, she received threats and messages from random people all the time- it was a consequence of her job. She felt more terrified about it now though because she had someone else to think about- the life she was carrying.

As she lay in bed on her side, a hand fell to her swollen waist. She was definitely showing now. Part of her was hoping that she would miscarry. It was a horrible thought, but it was true. Why put some innocent person through a life that isn't designed for them? Why should they have to pay the price for her job?

Caressing her belly, the other part of her thought about the future. What would it be? A boy? A little Girl? What would its name be? Where would it go to school? The thoughts raced in like bullet trains which overwhelmed Jenny. She was meant to be in Paris for a conference- not to worry about her child's future. She wondered if Jethro had gone to her house yet. He hadn't called again. Maybe he took the pictures into Abby for fingerprinting.

Jenny sat up in bed- struggling for a moment to get her bearings. At least being in the second trimester she didn't have to contend with the morning sickness and constant fatigue, but with it brought with it dizziness and headaches. Walking to the bathroom, she flicked on the light and started to run the shower. It was her last day in Paris, it wouldn't hurt to do a little shopping…

* * *

Jenny loved the fashionista side of France, she loved that she could walk into any store and buy whatever the held she wanted- within reason of course. Walking past a department store, she saw a dark green frock- perfect for a formal dinner. She did need some more dresses for when she had to go out with prestigious people- not to mention more maternity clothes. The ones that she did have were starting to break and were starting to get boring for her.

She was greeted by a small French woman with curly brown hair and almond shaped eyes. "Mademoiselle, can I help you with anything?"

Jenny pointed to the green frock in the window. "You got anything a little smaller?" Jenny replied. Her belly may have been constantly growing with every day, but Jenny had a small figure. She knew that she would most likely wear it after she had the baby.

"Of course, we do… However, I do have to warn you that the smaller ones we have may not fit you at the moment." She replied- referring to Jenny's growing belly. Jenny looked down and caressed it softly.

"I don't plan on wearing it at the moment… Not until after… After…"

"After its born…" The woman completed for her. Jenny nodded. Part of her still couldn't accept that her baby would be born within a few months. It was scary. "I'll go into the back room and find something smaller. We also have a range of baby clothes here as well, so feel free to have a look around."

Jenny's head irked towards the back of the store as the woman mentioned baby clothes. That was the last thing she felt like doing… This was meant to be about her- not the baby. "Thankyou…" Jenny mustered after a moment.

She was jealous of the skinny jeans she walked past. How she wished that she could fit herself into some. She felt her phone vibrate in her handbag- thinking that it was Jethro, she flipped it open.

"Shepard."

"Jennifer?" It was the familiar voice of her mother. Carole.

"Mom..." Jenny couldn't help but beam a smile. She had been wanting to talk to her mother for a while, but like Jenny, Carole was a workaholic. Between Jenny's job as Director and Carole's job as the CEO of a journalism company there was a hardly a moment where both of them weren't working. "How are you? How are you doing?"

"Oh… I've been busting with excitement to come and visit you in a few weeks. Is your pregnancy going okay?" Jenny brushed her other hand over the bump.

"Taking it day by day… I'm in Paris at the moment. Shopping." Jenny could almost see Carole roll her eyes.

"Oh… Some things never change do they my darling. Do you remember when you and I went to Italy for a holiday when you were eight?" Jenny nodded- remembering the weeklong holiday.

"I remember." Jenny laughed as she thought about a memory. "I recall chasing ducks down one of the piers and you running after me."

Jenny heard Carole giggling. "I want to experience that again… Maybe with Heather this time as well." Jenny grimaced as she thought about her elder sister Heather. The two of them spent the majority of their childhood arguing. Jenny couldn't recall a time where Heather was actually nice to her.

"Mom… Please not Heather."

"Why not? Don't tell me all these years later that you are still at each other's throats?" Carole said sadly. Jenny shook her head and made eye contact with the woman with the smaller green frock in her hand. She whispered thankyou and took the frock.

"You know Heather and I Mom… We are like chalk and cheese."

"That doesn't mean that you can't hang out with each other. You'll see how hard it is when you have more children."

Jenny just about fell over. "More children? Mom are you serious right now? I don't even want one right now!"

"Jennifer… You may or may not change your mind in the near future. Heather did." Carole was referring to the 3 children that Heather had- Jenny had only really met them once.

"Well I'm not Heather…"

"When are you due again? I would love to come up and help you once its born." Jenny grimaced at the thought of her mother being in the same room as her as she gave birth to her child.

"Not soon enough… Anyway, what are you doing up so early? Isn't it like 6 in the morning over there?"

"Don't deflect the question Jenny. You should know me by now Jennifer… I've always been an early riser." There was a pause as Carole coughed in the background. "Today, I've got this massive project that I've been working on and I'm going to present it to some potential customers. That's why I called actually- to tell you about it."

Jenny nodded. "Well… Good on you then."

"If I sell it good, then there is the chance that our company could get more money to spend on resources that could help us… Tell me, your job is going okay is it not?"

Jenny rolled her eyes at her job and the thought of having to physically avoid Jethro as much as she could. Even though the whole agency knew that she was pregnant with Jethro's child, it was still embarrassing for her. "My job is fine."

"And Jethro?" Jenny knew that she was going to ask that question. She didn't particularly want to talk about Jethro- not when he'd woken her up at 4am earlier.

"He's fine." She replied simply.

"Oh well then… I better start heading off to work… Just want to ask your opinion, green blazer or brown coat?"

"Very definitely a green blazer mom…" Jenny said smiling.

"Alright darling… I'll call you sometime in the next month." The phone call ended, and Jenny flipped her phone shut. She had subconsciously walked into the baby clothes part of the store. Wanting to turn away, Jenny chucked the phone back in her bag and pivoted on her foot, but something inside her told her to turn back around.

She glanced at a small pair of white boots hanging on the shelf and immediately felt the material. They were soft as tissue paper. She also saw a tiny pair of blue striped pyjama's. Jenny could feel tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. She had forgotten how tiny new babies could be…

Jenny took the pair of boots from the shelf and laid them on top of the green frock she had draped over her arm. She didn't even know if she was having a boy or a girl and frankly, she didn't really want to know. She wasn't so sure about what Jethro thought about the whole 'finding out the gender thing' before the baby was born.

Going up to the counter, she placed the frock on the table as well as the small baby boots. It was the first thing that she had ever chosen for her child. At that moment she realised that this is what any normal mother who had a life planned for her child would do. Buy clothes and get everything prepared for when it arrives.

She paid for the goods and walked out of the shop… Ready to buy more clothes for herself and her bundle of joy.

* * *

Walking into Jenny's house without her home was like walking through a haunted house with no monsters in it. It was eerily quiet. No phone calls being made from her office. No coffee brewing in the kitchen. Only the quiet ticking off the clock and the odd creaks from the house. Jethro walked straight towards her office and opened the safe with the key from inside his pocket.

It didn't take long to fumble through odd financial documents before he finally found an odd brown envelope addressed to Jenny with her address on it. Inside the brown envelope was something that could not be unseen. It was the picture of a piece of broken glass with blood smeared all over it… Then there was another picture of a patch of red hair.

Jethro grimaced. Jenny had red hair… It seemed awfully familiar. Then he realised that he had also been sent photos of Shannon and Kelly's graves. Except he knew who had sent them. His father. Jethro placed the odd photos back into the brown envelope and placed them safely in his pocket.

Something had been sparked inside of him. Like a protective flame. How dare someone send something so vulgar and vile to the mother of his child. Sending things to him was fine but sending them to people who were close to him, that's when the line was crossed.

* * *

"Hey Abs…" Jethro said blandly as he walked into her lab. Abby irked her head around from her computer and looked at Gibbs with a big.

"Hey Gibbs! I've dusted all prints on those frying pans that McGee gave to me. Didn't find anything special. I also examined all the stuff on his clothes… Get this Gibbs, I found traces of semen AND a poison." Gibbs shifted his weight between his two feet and watched as Abby paced around her computer.

"Poison?"

"Yup poison. It's a biological poison. Which means that it has come from some sort of plant or animal. However, I don't know many animals apart from snakes and spiders and that sort of thing that are poisonous so I'm guessing that whatever poison that has come off his shirt has come from a plant." Abby concluded.

"You mean to say that whatever killed this guy was poison?" Gibbs asked a little confused.

"Yeah Gibbs… Ducky couldn't find a single physical wound on his body- apart from the occasional scratch and bruise. The tox screen came back as well with elevated traces of an unknown substance in his blood. So, it has to be poison." Abby walked over to the mass spectrometer and pointed to a vial. "I'm running multiple tests at the moment to try and narrow whatever this is down. But whatever it is… Its deadly. There was only a miniscule amount on the shirt- enough to kill him."

"You also said there was semen?" Gibbs asked.

"Oh yeah. Pretty sure Scott Larson was gay." Abby said confidently as she leaned back against the table and sipped on her Caf-pow drink.

"Did you track whose DNA it is? Abby?" She smiled and walked over to her computer. A picture of a man came up.

"Fredrick Hollows. Worked with Larson for a few years at Quantico." Abby would normally have turned around to see Gibbs gone, but surprisingly he was still standing next to her- staring blackly at the picture of the Navy Seal on the screen. "Gibbs?"

Jethro looked down at the floor and reached into his pocket to pull out the brown envelope with the odd pictures. "Can you dust fingerprints on these? And if you can get some handwriting expert to examine the writing on the envelope.

Abby took a plastic bag and placed the envelope inside and sealed it shut. "More pictures huh?" Jethro nodded.

"Except it wasn't for me this time…" Abby looked up to see the ire in Jethro's eyes.

"The… Director?" Jethro nodded.

"Oh Gibbs…" Abby hugged Jethro tightly. "Someone's probably just playing some silly games with you guys." Jethro held up the plastic bag in front of Abby's face.

"You call this silly games Abby?"

Abby shut up, realising that Gibbs was super angry about the whole debacle. "I was only trying to reassure you Gibbs…" Abby said a little more sombrely.

"Thanks Abs…" Jethro said without giving Abby a kiss on the cheek. He walked out of the lab- leaving Abby standing there feeling sorry for herself.

* * *

"Director! How was your trip?" Cynthia asked as she greeted Jenny outside the terminal. Jenny gave a small smile and passed her suitcase to her driver.

"Conference was as boring as ever." Jenny replied as the two women jumped into the car. "Everyone survived I hope?"

Cynthia laughed and handed Jenny some files that Leon had written for her. "It's all in that file Director." Jenny smiled. Work seemed to be the perfect distraction that she needed right now.

"There was an incident… With Agent DiNozzo and a suspect." Jenny read through the incident report written in the file.

"Seems that everything seems to be sorted… I hope Vance wasn't too stressful to work with Cynthia. It was either him or Special Agent Gibbs." Jenny said- muttering when it came to Gibbs' name.

Cynthia couldn't help but giggle. "Oh. I'd prefer Vance over Gibbs any day." Jenny closed the file and shoved it to the bottom of her bag. "So… Tell me. What on earth did you buy when you were over there?"

Jenny tilted her head to the side and looked out the front windshield. "Oh, you know… The usual. Dresses, frocks, coats, shoes." Cynthia's smile turned into a frown.

"You didn't buy anything for the baby?" She asked out of curiosity. Jenny placed a hand on her baby bump.

"A few things… Small things." Jenny corrected. She hesitated for a moment. "I found a tiny pair of white boots in this store… Here I'll show you." Jenny pulled out the boots from in her handbag and passed them over to Cynthia.

"Oh… The material feels so smooth. I think he or she will love them… And so, will Jethro." Upon seeing the scowl on Jenny's face Cynthia passed back the boots. "I mean… Special Agent Gibbs."

"That's better." Jenny muttered.

"What's gotten into you two? I mean you seemed to be all over each other at Christmas time… What happened?" Jenny couldn't help but laugh a little. To be honest, she didn't even properly know what had happened between them.

"People drift apart Cynthia… And obviously for Special Agent Gibbs and I… Let's just say we have very different lifestyles."

"You both have the same job though…"

"Just because two people work at the same place doesn't mean that they share the same interests. He makes boats. I do paperwork. They are both very different things Cynthia…" The woman in question nodded and fiddled her hands together.

"What's going to happen when the baby is born? Will you stay together?" Jenny frowned and looked Cynthia directly in the eye.

"Why do you care?" She whispered quietly. Cynthia sat there for a moment trying to figure out what to say. When she couldn't find anything, she turned her body around and stared out the window.

"Forget I asked." She finally retorted. Jenny -at a loss for words- caressed her bump. She felt like the only mother to be in the world that didn't have any sort of plan at all. That felt embarrassing…

* * *

"Gibbs! You need to come down here! Right now!" Abby yelled through the phone. Jethro wasted no time in getting out of his seat and racing down the stairs to Abby's lab. When he walked in, he was surprised to find that her usually heavy music was not pounding. It was silent for once.

"What have you got for me Abs?" Abby motioned for Gibbs to come closer.

"You remember last week when you gave me those photographs that were sent to the director?" Abby asked. Gibbs nodded. "Well… I couldn't find any fingerprints on the photographs at all- apart from yours and the directors. So that means- "

"That whoever sent these pictures is doing this on purpose." Gibbs completed for Abby. She nodded in response.

"That's the thing. There is no shred of evidence whatsoever of anything physical on this envelope or these pictures. The answer to who sent this lies within the actual photographs." Jethro raised an eyebrow and looked at the pictures downloaded on Abby's computer.

"You see this glass here Gibbs… Even from a photograph we can run multiple tests to see what sort of glass this is. Turns out that it's from a windshield." Abby concluded.

"Can you tell what car it's from?" Gibbs asked vaguely.

"No. I already tried that. But… You see this?" Abby zoomed in on a particular mark on part of the glass. "I didn't see this at first because when we look at this picture, we are drawn to the blood smeared all over it. This mark here is a partial barcode. So, whoever crashed this vehicle may have crashed into a shop or something like that." Jethro frowned in confusion.

"I don't get it Abby… How does this help find out who sent these pictures?" Abby smiled and brought up a picture of a creepy doll on the screen.

"Because this is what that barcode belongs to Gibbs. A creepy doll. Do you remember when there was that major accident in town about a year ago when someone drove a car into the 'dolls r us' shop?" Gibbs nodded- vaguely recalling the incident.

Abby pulled up a picture of the red ute that had crashed into the shop. "This was the car. And so, I'm assuming that this piece of glass came from this vehicle."

"The FBI had jurisdiction of that case Abs… they'll have all the information of everyone involved…"

"Precisely… Which is why you are going to be going to the FBI to get that information." Jethro couldn't help but smile.

"Well done Abby." Gibbs kissed her on the cheek and raced out of the lab.

"Always the tone of surprise Gibbs." Abby muttered to herself.

* * *

Jethro for the life of him would never understand how everyone in the FBI seemed to be super anxious and antsy all of the time. Just in the security bay he was asked to walk through the body scanner 3 times.

Walking through the hallway, he eventually arrived at the office he needed to be at. When he walked inside, Agent Tobias Fornell was busy typing something on his computer only to glance up to see Jethro leaning against the doorway.

"Gibbs… Wasn't expecting to see you here today." Fornell stuttered in a surprised tone.

"Well what can I say… You owe me a few favours Fornell." Gibbs retorted. Tobias smiled and took his glasses off while Jethro seated himself opposite Tobias.

"Come to trade secrets?"

"Something like that…" Gibbs replied back. "Everyone here remembers the doll shop incident, don't they? 3 people died is that correct?"

Tobias nodded and raised his legs so that they were leaning on his desk. "You've come here to snatch information on that case… Haven't you?" Jethro had a blank expression.

"Its important Tobias. I need to know who crashed that vehicle…"

"The person who crashed that vehicle died instantly Jethro…" Gibbs leaned closer- inches away from Tobias.

"What was their name?" Tobias sighed and rubbed his forehead- trying to recall the incident.

"Robert Templeton." He finally replied. Gibbs pulled out his notepad and wrote the name down.

"Who else was involved? Anyone else in the car?" Fornell put his glasses back on and typed up the case on his computer.

"If I remember correctly… There was a little girl that was killed. Ah. Here it is…" Jethro leaned over to see the case on Fornell's computer. "She was standing in front of the shop when he barrelled on in."

"Red Hair." Jethro muttered under his breathe. Just like in the photo. "What was her name?" Fornell scanned the file.

"Evelyn White. She was only 6 Jethro."

"Her next of kin?" Fornell looked at Jethro curiously.

"What's gotten into you Jethro? What is so important about a case that happened over a year ago." Jethro sighed and closed his notebook.

"Jenny was sent pictures of a piece of glass and some red hair, Abby managed to track down the glass to this case. We still don't know who sent the pictures…" Jethro explained. Fornell nodded and read out the child's next of kin.

"Elizabeth White and Harvey Stone."

"Her Parents?"

"Only Elizabeth. Harvey is… detained. Fiordland prison. Drug busts and stalking."

"What was his relation to Evelyn?"

"Uncle. Brother of Elizabeth." Gibbs got up and paced around. Whoever sent the pictures was still out there. "Jethro… I think you could use some help with this case." Fornell offered but Jethro raised a hand.

"I'll deal with it on my own, Tobias. Thanks for the favour." Jethro walked out of the office.

"Any time." Fornell shouted after him.

* * *

The knock on the door was sharp and sounded urgent. Jenny- who had been busy fulfilling an ice cream craving on the couch while watching a movie- got up and opened the door. Jethro was the last person she was expecting to see. "What stopped you from barging in?" She asked.

Jethro let himself in and gestured for Jenny to come and sit down. She had changed a lot since the last time that he's seen her. The bump was bigger. Her hair seemed longer and fuller. "Thought I'd be polite."

Jenny laughed. "You? Polite? What's on your mind Jethro? I'd rather you barge in than be 'polite'."

Jethro didn't hesitate in cutting to the chase. "You have any connection to anyone with the last name of white?" Jenny pondered for a moment.

"Jethro… hundreds of people come into my office every day with various names. I don't recall the majority of them… Why do you ask?"

"Because those photos… They are connected to Evelyn White. She was the girl that was killed in that doll shop incident just over a year ago." Jenny sat down opposite Jethro- intrigued by his findings.

"You mean to say… That hair on the photo… Belonged to that little girl?" Jethro nodded and fiddled his thumbs together while Jenny processed the information. "I don't know what to say…"

"Abby couldn't find prints anywhere apart from ours… This is intentional Jen. Its vengeful. Its cruel. Someone wants payback…" Jenny shook her head and stood up.

"Payback? Payback on ME? Jethro you know as well as I do that I was never involved in this case!" Jethro stood up as well to try and calm Jenny down.

"I know… And I don't trust whoever has sent these pictures which is why I am ordering you to come and stay with me." Jenny looked at Jethro with uncertainty in her eyes.

"Stay with you? How much safer is your place than mine Jethro? You don't even lock your door for goodness sake!" Jenny ranted.

"It is safer than you staying out here all alone and pregnant… I want to keep you safe." Jenny rolled her eyes and scowled.

"I have… A security system Jethro… I have an alarm. I have a gun in my drawer. I think I'm safe." Jenny tried to justify. Jethro crossed his arms and sat back down on the couch while Jenny paced around the living room.

"You're forgetting one thing."

"What!" She snapped back- already irritated with Jethro's stubbornness.

"You're pregnant." He replied calmly. Jenny shook her head and sat back down on the couch opposite Jethro.

"Would it make a difference if I wasn't?" Jethro made eye contact with her emerald eyes. They were filled with ire, but he could sense fear deep within them.

"I would still protect you." He finally said. Jenny visibly relaxed and placed a hand over her stomach to try and ease her breathing.

"It's been a few weeks… Since I received it… The envelope. Nobody has come after me Jethro." Jenny reasoned.

"Not yet…" Jethro retorted. Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Just because someone random sends you some photographs doesn't mean they are going to kill you."

"You're forgetting that those photographs weren't just ordinary photographs Jenny. They were photographs from a crime scene… Someone wants revenge." Jethro reasoned.

"Well… No more have showed up. That's a good sign isn't it?" Jethro let out a sigh of frustration. The anger was building up in him by the second. Why couldn't she see the danger? Why was she denying what was actually in the pictures?

"I don't care that someone sent you a brown envelope with murder written all over it Jen, I care about YOU… And I've been afraid to admit it to you, but I can't lose you…" Jethro said with pain in his voice. Jenny looked away for a moment- afraid to admit that was what she was feeling also. "You and that baby are my everything now…"

Jenny walked over to the couch Jethro was sitting on she took his hand in hers and laid it over her swollen tummy. He could feel the movement of little jabs and kicks. It felt like heaven. It distracted him from his reality. It was their baby. "I've discovered it kicks a lot when I'm stressed out…" Jenny admitted. "It's like it already senses pain…"

Jethro smoothed his hand over the bump and glanced up to see Jenny's face. He could smell the vanilla ice-cream she'd been eating on her breathe. "Stay with me Jenny… Until this is all resolved. Stay with me…" He whispered into her ear. Jenny leaned into Jethro's chest and listened to the smooth beating of his heart. She hated his guts, but she had missed him. His scent. His body.

He combed his hands through her thick hair and kissed the crown of her head. He loved that she smelled of expensive perfume. "Yes." She whispered into his shirt that smelled of coffee. "Just don't… Piss me off." Jethro laughed.

"Isn't that my job?" He retorted. Jenny giggled and pushed Jethro over so that she was lying on top of him on the couch. She wasted no time in bringing her lips to his. She felt his strong hands wrap themselves all over her back and on her stomach. It was just like that one night. That night where old flames were relit, and mistakes were made.

Jenny pulled herself away and stared into Jethro's steel blue eyes that were full of desire and warmth, the ire in them slowly fading. "What are we going to do Jethro? To find this prick?" Jethro brushed some hair behind her ear.

"We'll do what we always do… And get the job done." Jethro leaned in to give her another kiss on the lips to which she gladly accepted.

"Why… Haven't we… done this more often?" Jenny muttered in between kisses. She enjoyed his touch, his lips. She enjoyed all of him. Jethro pushed Jenny over onto her back and leaned in next to her as he caressed her face.

"Why haven't you let me?" Jethro retorted. Jenny laughed and sighed. She placed a hand on her stomach and leaned her head under Jethro's arm.

"I've felt embarrassed… And ashamed. I feel so judged Jethro. Every day." Jethro hummed in response.

"I get it." Jenny shook her head and breathed in his scent.

"Jethro… I…" Jenny hesitated with tears in her eyes. "Something happened while I was in Paris…"

"Just one thing Jenny?" Jethro said sarcastically. When he saw the tears in her eyes, Jethro took his hands and pulled her in closer to him. "What happened?"

"I wanted to miscarry this baby so badly Jethro…" Jenny said with the tears streaming down her face. "I thought that if… I miscarried, I wouldn't have to suffer the pain and the judgement from so many people. But then I realised… Even if I did lose this baby… I would still feel the same things." Jenny admitted tearfully.

Jethro listened intently, with one hand caressing her face and wiping away the tears and the other hand smoothing circles on her back. He hummed in response. "I just don't know what to feel anymore Jethro… I want to be a normal mother. I want to be like all those women in the world with normal jobs and a normal lifestyle. I want to feel happy to be a mom…"

He placed a small kiss on the top of her forehead. "You are a normal mom." He reassured. Jenny shook her head.

"What mother wishes that their baby was gone Jethro? Tell me…" She whispered with severe pain. "You can't say I'm a normal mother when I say that… Shannon would never have said that with Kelly would she?" Jethro closed his eyes and remembered his late first wife.

"Shannon went through her own problems when she was pregnant Jen…" Jethro paused for a moment. "She didn't want me to leave when Kelly was due to be born…" Jenny looked Jethro in the eyes.

"You left her?" She whispered. Jethro nodded in response.

"I was due to be sent out to the middle east a few weeks before Kelly was born. I never got to see her when she was first born." Jenny could sense the pain and regret embedded in Jethro's voice.

"You'll be there for me? When the time comes?" Jenny asked. Jethro brushed a piece of her red hair out of her face.

"Of course, I'll be there Jen. You can count on it…"

* * *

A/N: Just a little bit of fluff at the end :)


	6. On Her Own

Late April 2008

There were some things that Jenny hated in her job. Dealing with morons who were withholding information and evidence regarding a case was one of them. What made things worse with this case was that Jethro couldn't be bothered dealing with it himself. So, what did he do? Passed the guy on to Jenny.

"I don't care that you need it tonight Commander. I want that switch on my forensics table, ready for my forensics examiner to examine." Jenny spat into the phone. She had been in a non-stop argument with Colonel Johns from the military navy base in Virginia- all over a switch. One that was a potential cause of death of a victim.

"You know I can't do that director. This switch is used all day long by people to get in and out of the building. What would that mean for my security is someone unauthorised just rushed on in?" Jenny scoffed.

"Let me guess. Not much. You have security on pretty much every square inch of your base." She heard a laugh on the other side of the phone.

"What are they going to do about it? Chase em down? Causing them to endanger all of my units." Jenny rolled her eyes. She couldn't actually take this guy seriously.

"That's what will happen if you don't give us the damn switch." She said. Her blood was boiling now.

"Not a chance." Jenny leaned back in her chair and swivelled around to look out the window at the pouring rain. She felt she had been fair with this guy so far, but now all Jenny could feel was rage. And she had every reason to be feeling that. He had refused to let them take the switch when Ziva asked for it and he had gone to great lengths to make sure that it couldn't be taken.

"Look Commander. I have been pretty nice to you so far. But you haven't seen what lengths I will go to, to ensure that this investigation is completed. I could send my team in with a search warrant. They will take your computer. Look at receipts. Go through your rubbish. Take everything that ever meant anything to you. Or… We can arrest you, for withholding information and evidence from us. You could potentially do time and for a pretty boy like you, that doesn't look too good for your career." Jenny ranted over the phone. There was a long period of silence. Jenny wondered if he was still there.

"I guess I have no choice in the matter then do I?" He finally muttered. Jenny swivelled around to face her desk again with a smirk on her face. She always won.

"Wasn't so hard was it?" She said with a smug grin on her face. "There will an agent there presently to talk to you and remove the switch." Jenny spat as she slammed the phone down on its hold. She sighed as she glanced at the clock on her desk. It was only 3 in the afternoon. Too early to leave.

With only another 6 and a bit weeks until her baby was due to be born, Jenny was feeling the fatigue and the 'joys' of pregnancy more than ever.

High heels were becoming a 'no no' on a regular basis because it made her feet swell. And she had to admit, it was affecting her balance and weight distribution. A few weeks earlier, she had almost taken a tumble down the stairs- something that she was sure had scarred Jethro. Besides, she couldn't find any in her closet. Jethro had removed them and hidden them somewhere for her safety.

Her hand couldn't help but fall to her swelling stomach as she stood up. She needed a break. She had been working all day and was due to be in MTAC in half an hour. As she walked out onto the catwalk, she could see Abby tottering around in the bullpen. She was sitting at Jethro's desk- snooping.

Jenny had noticed the odd behaviour a few weeks earlier and while it wasn't unusual to see Abby having a little snoop, it seemed to be getting more and more obsessive- which was something that could potentially destroy Jethro's relationship with Abby. Neither of them wanted that.

She took her time getting down the stairs, carefully holding the railing and looking where she was going. Jethro had asked her to take the elevator down many a time, considering that Jenny couldn't actually see with her baby bump in the way. However, Jenny thought that taking the elevator was lazy and she needed her exercise. And he wasn't even here to watch so why should she care.

Jenny finally reached the bottom of the stairs.

Abby was now looking in drawers with old files in them. She mustn't have noticed Jenny sit herself down on the edge of Gibbs' desk because she seemed so entranced in whatever she was looking for.

Jethro and the rest of the team were currently out in the field, collecting witness statements **and** the switch. She found it fascinating what Abby got up to when they weren't around. "Spill the beans Abby." Jenny said, cutting to the chase.

Abby jumped for a moment, then slowly turned around from the files and held her gaze towards the ground. "Director." She said sullenly. She knew she was in trouble.

"Abby." Jenny replied in the same tone. "You know we've had conversations about snooping around."

"I know director… It's just…" Abby sat down in Gibbs' chair while Jenny tried to manoeuvre herself around so that she was facing the goth. "Something's missing." She said simply. Jenny frowned. Whatever in the hell did she mean?

"What?" She snapped quietly.

"Gibbs'… He just isn't the same anymore. He's changed. In a weird way. He doesn't ask me to do favours for him anymore." Jenny nodded. She herself had noticed Jethro's change in behaviour not just at work but at his house as well. He seemed more protective and open- something she blamed on the impending arrival of their child.

"And… You think you can find the answers to that by looking in his drawers?" Jenny asked suggestively. Abby bit her lip and then shook her head from side to side.

"I was hoping to find a picture or something… Something that shows he is happy." Jenny smiled and put a hand on Abby's shoulder.

"Abby… I can assure you that Jethro is fine. He's just… preparing to be a father again." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice. She knew better than anyone how this baby would remind Jethro of Kelly for the rest of his life. It would be painful to watch, but at least he gets another chance at being a father again- that was the part that made Jenny feel happy.

"How do you know?" Abby asked- still not feeling reassured. Jenny bit her lip hard. She had become somewhat of a maternal figure for Abby, it wasn't something she minded though.

"Becoming a parent… It changes you. In so many ways… You'll understand when you decide to have children." Abby nodded.

"I'm gonna miss you director… Once you have the Gibblet… Having Vance in your place… I might just die." Abby said sadly. Jenny tilted her head towards Abby.

"You know that you can come and visit anytime. You can call anytime. I'll only be a phone call away." Abby stood up and leaned in to give Jenny a hug.

"Oh director… You're gonna have trouble keeping me away." Abby said with a hint of happiness in her voice, before walking away towards the elevators- leaving Jenny to her thoughts.

* * *

"Hey… I thought you were coming home early this evening?" Jethro asked as Jenny walked inside and closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry… The MTAC meeting when on for longer than I anticipated." She replied as she sat on the sofa and took her shoes off. Jethro- who had been washing dishes in the kitchen- put the towel he was holding down and walked over to the sofa. He kissed Jenny softly on the lips.

Their relationship was somewhat complicated currently. Some days she swore that she could strangle him to death. And other days like today, she wanted nothing more than to just cuddle up on the couch at night and be loved after a long day of work.

Jenny still hadn't moved back into her apartment; she was still receiving pictures and letters on a weekly basis from the Evelyn White case. It was something Jethro was trying to investigate on top of everything else he needed to do. The redhead didn't mind though, if anything she enjoyed being around Jethro. He kept her safe and he was actually trying being nice to her lately. It was as if he sympathized for her being pregnant.

Things Jenny thought she'd never see Jethro do in her lifetime was washing dishes, doing the washing, cooking dinner and making her a hot chocolate- because she couldn't drink coffee. Abby was right. Something had definitely clicked in Jethro. It was a stark contrast from the man she knew when she first met him.

"They always do." Jethro replied sympathetically as he caressed Jenny's back. "Did you deal with that prick?" He asked referring to the commander Jenny was arguing with earlier in the day.

"Oh… Him. He learnt his lesson." Jenny snarked as she took off her other shoe. Jethro couldn't help but grin slightly.

"Tell me about it…" Jethro asked wanting to know what happened. Jenny sighed and threw the shoes across the room.

"We argued… For at least an hour. We only talked about everything else except the topic of the switch." Jenny said in a frustrated tone. Jethro nodded. He placed a hand on Jenny's large stomach. He couldn't believe that in another month and a bit, his baby would arrive. He was definitely counting down the days now.

"We need to think of names." He said simply. Jenny laughed and rubbed her tired eyes.

"You've said that every night for the last however many weeks Jethro." Jenny retorted. Truthfully, she wasn't ready to name the baby. She didn't even know if she was having a boy or a girl. It would only add to her stress. Plus, there was still the chance that they could lose the baby- even though the chance was highly unlikely at this stage in her pregnancy.

"Well yeah… because we haven't decided on one we like yet." Jethro said with sarcasm. Jenny placed her head against the head of the couch and manoeuvred herself so that her feet were in Jethro's lap.

"Okay then… What do you want to start with? Boy's names or girls names?" Jenny said cutting to the chase. If they could just choose a name, then she wouldn't have to think about it again.

"Boys names. Owen." Jethro began. Jenny scoffed.

"Owen Gibbs? Definitely not."

"What's wrong with it?"

"Owen Richards? You know… The guy who went around murdering all those petty officers for no reason at all?" Jethro rubbed his temple.

"Are you going to tell me about some other serial killer every time I mention a name I like?"

Jenny smirked. "Only if I hate the name."

"Alright then… Your turn." Jethro said sarcastically as he massaged her swollen feet.

Jenny stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure out a good name. "I like Jaxon." She said after a moment. The expression on Gibbs' face concerned Jenny.

After a few moments of contemplation and deep thought Jethro whispered, "That's my father's name." Jenny hadn't known all the details of Jethro's family history and upon hearing that his father's name was Jackson, she actually smiled. "What are you smiling at?" Gibbs asked her.

"You're so adorable when you're deep in thought… And if we are having a boy, I'm sure he'll love to be named after his grandad." Jenny said calmly. Gibbs shifted uncomfortably.

"Jen… I haven't seen my dad in a long time… This kid won't even probably meet him." Jethro said with no remorse in his voice.

"So what? You don't think he or she has the right to feel like they belong in this family? People name their kids after their parents all the time. I like the name." Jenny said determined. "What happened between you anyway?"

Jethro seriously wasn't in the mood to talk about it. He just ignored the question.

"What about Cody? Or Spencer?" Jethro asked. Jenny smiled. She liked the name Spencer. It worked for a boy and for a girl.

"Spencer is nice." Jenny said simply. "But it still doesn't answer my question."

Jethro bit his lip and kept rubbing his hands over Jenny's swollen feet. He wasn't as experienced as some of the other boyfriends Jenny had had in her lifetime, but Jethro seemed to be getting better each time he did it.

"You don't want to tell me… Do you?" Jenny asked him quietly.

It wasn't entirely true; he did want to tell her about the fight he had had with his father after Kelly and Shannon's deaths. Now just wasn't the right time. Upon hearing silence from Jethro, Jenny rubbed her belly.

"Okay then… I won't press it. Any ideas for a girl?"

If they were having a girl, Jethro wouldn't know what to do with himself. He would probably spend his entire life looking at her as if she were Kelly. He couldn't even process the thought of having another girl.

"Do you have any ideas?" He asked her gently. Jenny shook her head. She hadn't always been a huge fan of girls names. There were some out there that were just way too girly and feminine for Jenny. At least with boys names she could read the names without gagging on her food.

"Don't you think having at least one boys name we like is enough for tonight?" Jenny said yawning. Jethro nodded and patted her knee softly.

"Have you had dinner?" Jethro asked her. Jenny shook her head slowly as she closed her eyes. She knew Jethro was silently judging her for not taking care of herself.

"Don't judge me Jethro… But I'm really craving a cheesesteak."

"Well too bad… I saved you some cheesy pasta in the microwave." Jethro said smirking. Jenny shook her head.

"No. I can't eat that. It needs to be a cheesesteak." Jethro rolled his eyes. Bloody women and their cravings.

"You're asking me to go out at 10pm and go and order you a cheesesteak?" Jethro said raising an eyebrow. Jenny nodded.

"That's your job isn't it?" Jethro couldn't help but tickle the woman's feet. She started to squeal as he wiggled his fingers all over her arches. He didn't care if he had bruises in the morning, he always enjoyed seeing Jenny squirm.

"Jethro! I swear… to god I will murder you if you don't get me my cheesesteak!" She said as she continued to giggle and squirm.

After another minute, Jethro finally relented and watched as Jenny threw her head over the arm rest and exhaled. Part of her actually liked being tickled by Jethro. It was a nice distraction from her reality sometimes. The reality of work, the reality of having a kid. Being tickled just made her forget. She felt like a different person.

"Well… **If **I am going to buy you a cheesesteak, we might as well just go out." Jethro concluded.

Jenny arched her head up to look at Jethro. "Like a date?"

Jethro smirked and rubbed her foot softly. "Yes, Jen. Like a date."

"I better go get ready then…"

* * *

She was due to be on maternity leave in just a couple of weeks and she finally could understand how women decided to take at least a whole month off before they were due. She was absolutely exhausted.

And it didn't help when your 'partner' took you out for a date at 10pm and didn't arrive back home until 1:30 in the morning.

Jethro walked Jenny up to the guest bedroom where she had been sleeping for the last few months. It was clear to the both of them that as much as they were in love with each other, they weren't 'officially' an item- as Abby would have put it. It still felt awkward the situation that they were in and Jenny didn't want to increase the awkwardness of that by having Jethro in her bed every single night. She needed her space and she needed her own bed to process her thoughts.

It comforted her though that Jethro was only across the hall. There had been a few instances where she had nightmares and had crawled into his bed with him. He would mumble absolute nonsense into her ear and make her hot chocolates to distract her. Occasionally, he would sit up with her and force her to tell him what the dream she was having was about. The dreams were mostly about her being a bad mother, but lately her dreams of the little girl that died had been even more overwhelming than her own fears. It was getting to the point where she wanted it all to end.

Jethro waited outside her door as she slipped into a loose nighty and brushed her hair out. They actually had had a nice date. Jenny was fulfilled that she got her cheesesteak and Jethro was just happy that she was happy. He had taken her to a restaurant in the high end. The meal was bloody expensive, but Jenny being the director meant discounts.

Jenny called out to him when she was lying in the bed underneath the blankets. Jethro walked in and sat on the edge of the bed staring down at Jenny lovingly. This had been their ritual for the last couple of weeks. Jethro would stay and watch over Jenny until he was certain she was asleep. He didn't want her to be tossing and turning, overthinking every little thing that was going wrong in their lives. Simply having Jethro there comforted her.

"I want it all to end Jethro… These notes. Pictures. I'm going to break at some point, and it can't be once the baby is born." Jenny said seriously. Jethro rubbed her leg through the covers soothingly.

"I know." He replied. "You're safe here."

Jenny rolled her eyes at Jethro's remark. The stalker or whatever it was that was sending her these things knew where she was. "That's bull and you know it." Jenny said with haste.

Jethro cursed himself internally. He didn't mean what he had said for it to come out that way. He had meant that she was safe in his company. "You know that Fornell, Abby and I are working hard on this Jen…"

"Yeah… But let's face it Jethro… you've gotten nowhere." She said bluntly. "Whoever this person is… They are taunting me. They are taunting us. You've got to let it stop."

Jethro nodded and began and turned off the bedside light. As much as it hurt him, Jenny was right. Whoever wanted to hurt her was only going to keep doing it. He just needed to figure out a way to get to them before it was too late. "Get some sleep Jen."

"Hey Jethro…"

"Yeah?"

"I had a really nice time tonight."

* * *

Jenny had arrived home early from work. Well… Rather Jethro ordered her home under the rule that she wasn't allowed to work. So here she was standing at the kitchen sink washing the cups, bowls and mugs that had been left on the table earlier that morning- dishes that Jethro couldn't be bothered washing.

She had to give him credit though where credit was due, he had been working hard on creating a comfortable lifestyle for Jenny. He made dinner for her as much as possible, he had been hanging up the washing to avoid her standing on her feet for too long. He really had been good.

The prospect of what she was going to do when she went on maternity leave terrified and excited her. She didn't know how she was going to be able to cope without being able to at least look at her emails. Her entire life was surrounded by her career. She loved it. Now she was going to be moving into something that was completely out of her league. Parenting.

It was made official by Secnav a few days ago that Leon Vance would be taking her place while she was on maternity leave. But while she didn't plan on being away from her desk for more than a month after the baby was born, Jethro kept drilling into her head that it was so unrealistic. She needed to take care of the baby and Jethro couldn't just abandon the team that easily.

Her thoughts were interrupted abruptly as the doorbell rang. She had to remind Jethro to install a new sound. Maybe a chime. His current one sounded like one from the prison cell. She glanced out the window behind her in the dining room. She could see all the strawberry patches that Jethro had been busy growing starting to sprout.

It was funny… She had never picked Jethro as the gardening type of guy, yet when he was home on the weekends and not working that's all he seemed to do. Garden or make a boat. It was weird though… Jethro didn't often receive visitors. Jenny didn't know anyone who rang the doorbell anyway. Most people seemed to knock or as they used to do just barge on in. She continued to rinse off the bowl she was holding. Whoever was at the door could wait a few minutes.

To Jenny's surprise, the doorbell rang again. No more than 30 seconds later. It startled her so much that the bowl slipped out of her hand and shattered into tiny pieces onto the hard metal. The redhead winced as tiny shards pierced her left hand. She turned her attention to the door down the hallway. Whoever it was that wanted to see her, wanted to see her desperately.

Jenny reached for a blue towel hanging off of the oven handle and wrapped it carefully around her injured hand. With her other hand she grabbed her pistol off the table- Something Jethro would have scolded her for had he seen it. She carefully walked to Jethro's front door holding the pistol close to her. For all she knew it could have just been a poor innocent bystander asking for directions or an elderly woman giving out fliers.

But given the level of suspicious activity she had been experiencing, Jenny wasn't going to take her chances. Upon first glance, nobody seemed to be standing outside the door. She winced slightly as she pulled open the door with her sore hand.

Nobody was at the door. Only a small white box with her name neatly written on the top. If her heart wasn't racing before it was now. Jenny stepped out onto the veranda holding out her pistol and glanced around the property. She was scared. She felt she was being watched. Someone out there had to be watching. They wouldn't just doorbell ditch and walk away.

Deciding that it wasn't worth it, Jenny walked back inside the house and locked the door tightly behind her- not bothering to touch the box. She pulled out her cell phone embedded in her pocket and called Jethro. He answered the phone within two rings.

"Hey. You okay?" Gibbs asked her with obvious concern in his voice. It was odd for Jenny to call him when he was still at work. And with the nearing arrival of their child with each passing day, he became more and more worried about Jenny going into labour.

"Jethro." She answered hesitantly. "You need to see this."

* * *

It was a gold chain necklace. No notes. No cards. Just a gold necklace in a white box. Jethro had raced home from an interrogation no more than 10 minutes after Jenny had made the call.

As he stood over it and looked it over with a careful eye, Jenny noticed his hands fidgeting on the chair he was holding. "They rang the doorbell twice Jethro." Jenny muttered from across the table. "They were impatient. Knew I was home."

"They've been watching you." He said simply. Jenny -who sat across from him with the towel still wrapped around her hand -shuddered.

"I can't live like this Jethro…" He glanced over to the redhead. "Sooner or later… Something horrible is going to happen and I think you know that too…" Jenny said with ire in her eyes.

Jethro sighed. Jenny always seemed to be right with these sort of situations. It was what made her a good field agent. "You recognise this?" He asked gently. Jenny shook her head. She was so tired of this stalker's games.

"I go to Paris for clothes, not jewellery." She snarked. Jethro kept his expression stone cold, but internally was finding it hard to believe that Jenny didn't shop for jewellery. He had seen some of the items she had in her jewellery box and there were a lot more there than someone who 'didn't buy jewellery' would buy.

But now wasn't the time to make useless jokes that would only piss Jenny off. Now was the time to figure out what the hell was going on. He pulled out his notebook and a pen from his grey blazer and slid them across the table to Jenny.

"Write down all the people you've pissed off" Jenny rolled her eyes.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to go through my entire calendar?" She challenged. Gibbs didn't smirk. "How do we even know this is someone I've pissed off? I probably have never even met them."

"Well… Whoever it is, obviously hates your guts. So, you must have done something drastic to them." Gibbs said with a smirk knowing fully well that Jenny could be a lot to handle. "I'll call Abby and get her to go through all cases involving you- including all interrogations and witness statements."

Jenny first wrote down all the people she'd met as director that had acted hostile towards her that she could remember. Unfortunately for her, baby brain seemed to be playing up. She struggled to remember what those people even looked like.

While Jethro was calling Cynthia about sending Abby Jenny's calendar, the redhead had the gruelling task of writing down all murderers and felons she had caught that were still alive. The last 10 years' worth anyway. One person came to mind… Svetlana. The woman that she couldn't bear to kill in an assassination task in the Czech Republic. She had let the woman go. Jethro still didn't know… And he couldn't know. Although in her gut, Jenny knew that one day he'd find out. And he'd be furious at her.

"That's a start isn't it?" Jenny said as she handed Jethro the two pages worth of names. Jethro shoved the paper into his blazer and carefully caressed her hand that had shards in it. He would have fixed her hand here and now, but he didn't have the supplies to, and he didn't want to hurt her.

"I'll take you to the doctor. I don't have bandages or antiseptic. We'll drop these off to Abby after we're done." Jenny nodded and followed Jethro to the car with the box in a large plastic bag.

* * *

Mid May 2008

Jenny sat on Jethro's couch flustered. William Decker was dead. A heart attack apparently. Though in her gut, she felt that it was just odd. She had always remembered Decker as a fit guy. He could chase off any junkie or criminal that came his way. What made things more complicated was that he couldn't have been any older than Jenny was. She was nearly 40. She could have picked Decker to have been at least 45. Too young to die from a heart attack…

Svetlana was beginning to haunt her dreams at night, and it wasn't going to do Jenny any good just sitting at home wanting this whole torture act to end. She knew Svetlana was behind it all.

"You're not seriously considering flying to California Jen?" Jethro asked her, sitting on the armrest of the sofa opposite.

"Yes. I am." Jethro looked at her with pain and ire in his eyes. He had loved and known Decker as much as Jenny, but he just couldn't seem to grasp why she so desperately wanted to go to his funeral. It's not like the 3 of them were quote on quote 'close'.

"You hardly knew Decker." Jethro pointed out. Jenny rolled her eyes.

"What in the hell do you mean?" Jenny asked offended.

"I mean… That we only had one mission with him. He helped with the intel for a few assassinations. That's it. Jen,** I** hardly knew the guy!"

Jenny avoided his harsh glare. It was hard having to lie to Jethro, but she could understand why he was so hesitant about her going. She was only due in just under a month. And Jethro knew from experience that babies never listened to schedules.

"That's still not an excuse to not attend his funeral. I'm going." Jenny said determined. Jethro scoffed.

"The bloody hell you're not…" Jenny stood up as fast as she could with a large belly and raced up to the guest bedroom- pulling out a suitcase. "What are you doing?"

"Packing." She could hear Jethro stressing out behind her as she chucked in various bits and pieces for the trip. She had to go through with this. She had to go it alone… Without him. And while that hurt her and hurt his feelings, he couldn't know about Svetlana and the failed assassination. It would destroy their relationship.

"Jen… Listen to me." Jethro whispered. "There is someone out there that wants to kill you."

_Yeah Svetlana_ Jenny thought in the back of her head.

"And… You're due in 3 weeks." Jenny nodded. She knew that. But this was a now or never situation- one that Jenny wished she had figured out sooner. She still had time… While the baby was still impending. Find out what happened to Decker. Find Svetlana. Kill her. Then it will all be over and done with.

"I know Jethro."

"Then **why** are you going?" Jethro pleaded with her. The only reason he seemed so angsty and upset about the whole ordeal was because he couldn't actually leave work currently. He was being watched closely by Vance and it would look bad if he just randomly left for a vacation. He and Jenny both knew that her leaving was a terrible idea.

Jenny sat on the edge of the bed and looked into Jethro's blue eyes. All she could sense in them was utter fear and terror. It made the butterflies in her stomach swirl. He actually did care about her, but probably more so the baby. And she could see where he was coming from, he just wanted to protect her.

"You may have not known Decker Jethro… But I did." Jethro looked at her oddly before Jenny continued. "After… I left. In Paris." She brushed her baby bump with her hand. "We were assigned heaps of missions together overseas."

"Oh… Please tell me you didn't hook up with him too…" Jethro pleaded. Jenny sent a scowl in his direction. How dare he accuse her of being unprofessional with **all **her co-workers.

"Care to let me finish?" Jenny snapped. Jethro threw his hands around before finally deciding to cross them. "The missions we went on… They were dangerous Jethro. We could have died so many times, and we didn't. He saved my life on multiple occasions. I can't thank him enough for that."

Jethro stood there astounded. "So… You actually had face to face contact with him?" Jenny nodded.

"That's why I want to attend his funeral Jethro. He was a good friend and all…" Jenny held her lip trying to hold back the flood of tears. "All I want to do is… say goodbye." Jethro stood there in silence for a full minute just staring at Jenny. There was no way he was going to win this argument with her. She was dreadfully determined.

"Okay." He finally said. Jenny couldn't believe her ears. Did he seriously just allow her to fly to California on her own? "But… One condition. Ziva and Tony are going with you for your protection." Jenny nodded. She could handle that. She trusted Ziva with her life and Tony she could manipulate him all she wanted.

"Jen…" Jenny looked up to see Jethro walking towards her. He knelt down below her so that she was looking directly into his eyes. Putting his hand on her baby bump, he caressed it smoothly. "Look after this little guy…"

The redhead couldn't help but smile slightly. "What makes you so sure it's a boy?" Jenny asked him out of curiosity. Jethro stared at her stomach.

"My gut." Jenny just laughed.

"Really? Because a few weeks ago I could have sworn I saw you looking at 'pink' blankets in that furniture shop… What's changed?"

Jethro sat down on the bed next to Jenny and hunched over so that he was looking towards the ground. It was hard for him. Having to transition back into fatherhood. He genuinely thought that when Jenny told him she was pregnant that he'd be excited and over the moon. But what he didn't expect was the nerves. Everyday he got more and more nervous. And he truly didn't know if he could be a father again.

"Jethro?"

He closed his eyes and thought about Kelly. His beautiful daughter. He missed her. More than anything. But now more than ever. Jenny noticed the sombre expression on his face and started to rub her hands over his back. She felt terrible for doing what she was about to do. But it was necessary to protect Jethro and her baby.

As much as she was terrified of having this baby, she didn't want it to come into the world amongst its parents war zone. It just wasn't right. Each day she woke up, she felt that she was warming up to this kid more and more. Jethro was right… About falling in love with the baby. It was a gradual process. She was learning to let herself love it.

"I can't be there with you." To any stranger it would have sounded like he had no emotion in his voice whatsoever, but to Jenny she could hear everything. She heard the slightest rasp in his throat as he tried to hold back the tears. She noticed how he averted his eyes as he spoke. The way he wasn't trying to fight her anymore. It broke her heart.

She really wanted Jethro to be there. She really did. Once upon a time she would have killed to be with him forever. Back in the good old undercover Paris days. And here she was, about to fulfil that wish. Jenny grabbed his head and gently nudged it towards her as their lips met. Even though their fears and nerves would never go away, it eased Jethro to know that Jenny cared for him.

He just couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen to her. This all seemed like a bad idea. But Jenny was determined to go, and if he had learnt anything from being married a thousand times, it was letting the women find what made them happy. Well… Jethro wasn't about to take that right away from Jenny, not when she was about to give birth to their child.

* * *

Los Angeles

Tony DiNozzo couldn't help but beam as he stepped out of the airport and saw that he was actually in Los Angeles. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, he put on his sunglasses and eyed up some girls standing across the parking lot in their short miniskirts and tanned legs. That was until Ziva stood in front of him- blocking his view.

She sent him a cold scowl with her dark eyes. "We are here to watch over the director. Not oogle teenagers." Ziva snapped.

"Ogle." Tony corrected. Jenny was a short distance behind them- walking a little slower than she usually did. It was hard not to notice that the woman wasn't in pain. Being pregnant and cramped up in economy class for a couple hours wasn't a good combination.

Upon reaching the other two Jenny huffed. "Hey. Thanks for waiting for me. Did you know that when your 37 weeks pregnant, there's no such thing as powerwalking? Funny huh?" Jenny spat sarcastically- mainly aimed at DiNozzo.

He chose to stay quiet. Ziva managed to find them a cab and before she knew it, Tony and Ziva were fighting for who got to sit in the front seat.

"It should be me. I'm the senior field agent here."

"No. It should be me. I'm more trained in combat than you ever will be." Ziva remarked. Jenny rolled her eyes in annoyance as she lifted up her suitcase into the trunk. Shouldn't they have been the ones putting the suitcases in the cab? Not the pregnant lady?

"Is that so?"

"Yes, it is." Tony smirked.

"Okay… Here's a deal… Why don't we rock paper scissors for it? First to three. How does that sound?" Tony said enthusiastically at the end. Ziva squinted her eyes at him with a hint of a friendly smile.

"Deal." She said.

Jenny stood there with her hands on her hips as she watched her two most 'mature' agents fight for the front seat. Tony won the first with a rock. Ziva managed to win with a rock too, followed then by a paper and finally another rock. Ziva smirked as she slid into the front passenger seat while Tony stood there astonished that he had actually lost.

"Something wrong agent DiNozzo?" Jenny asked him sarcastically. He shook his head and walked around the other side of the car to open the door for the director. Being the kind gentlemen that he was.

"No. Nothing at all."

* * *

A/N: Ah... So i'm not entirely happy with how this chapter turned out. Which was part of the reason why it took me so damn long to write. Anyone who writes knows that you have chapters where what you want to write doesn't really fit in with the storyline and this just happened to be one of those chapters.

Yup! Jenny is 37 weeks pregnant and getting on a plane to go to Los Angeles. I kind of figured that the team don't use a jet that much and Jenny is the director of a federal agency so she can pull some strings when she wants to. I know that most airlines don't let women who are pregnant after a certain point fly, but i got the sense that Jenny was going to fly whether or not anyone else cared. And lets be honest, there is no limit to imagination.

Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Thanks for reading guys. Next chapter shouldn't be too far away. Kind of funny how when exams are approaching you seem to write more.


	7. A Bad Situation

A/N: Sorry that you guys have been waiting ages for this next chapter! There really is no excuse on my part... So without further ado, lets get into this crazy chapter.

* * *

A bun? Or left out? That was the big question on Jenny's mind as she stood in front of the bathroom mirror. Oh… It was just Decker for crying out loud. He had never given a crap what you looked like… The redhead crunched down on the side of her cheek hard. The combination of being heavily pregnant and attending the funeral of a close friend didn't really mix well.

Tears stung at the corners of her eyes. Jethro was right. How stupid of an idea was it for her to come here? For one thing she didn't even know what the hell she was getting herself into. There was every chance that someone could just shoot her, and everything would be over.

She sat down on the edge of the toilet seat and placed her head in her hands. It wasn't even worth bothering to wipe away the tear that was currently gliding its way down her cheek. Oh, how she hated the hormones, it was so hard just to stay put together without bawling.

Deciding that crying wasn't going to solve all her problems, Jenny stood up again and looked herself up and down in the mirror. Looking through her drawers the night previous, she had found a blue blouse that she had bought herself in Paris a few months ago. It was perfect for California's heat. Not to mention that it also fit the baby bump nicely.

A knock sounded at the door, Jenny hovelled over to the source and glanced through the peephole to see Ziva David standing on the other side. Wearing a sensible black pantsuit, she stood posed carrying a matching black handbag.

Jenny hadn't realised how late she was running. The funeral was due to start in half an hour and she was still deciding on how she wanted her hair to look. She swung the door open and let the agent inside her room. Ziva couldn't have been blind to have noticed the red eyes and the trail of tears on her cheeks, but she didn't question it.

If the director wanted to talk about her feelings then that was okay, but Ziva wasn't the sort of person who forced people to open up. She knew from her own personal experiences how vulnerable and revealing that could be. And she had to remember that Jenny had a lot of hormones surging through her currently, which probably explained part of the reason she looked so upset.

"Jenny." Ziva said as she made her way through the door. Jenny shut it quietly behind her- following the other agent partway into the room.

"I know I'm not ready to go… But… Between finding something suitable to wear and putting on make-up…" Jenny paused for a moment, trying to catch her breathe. "I just lost track of time…"

Ziva couldn't help but smirk. "Well… You're doing better than DiNozzo." The agent placed her bag on the dining table. "Decided that it would be nice to have a second feed." She spat with the slightest hint of amusement.

The redhead grinned. "I don't blame him… That French toast was divine." Jenny said as she smoothed her hand over the ever-growing bump.

"I'll stay as long as I need to…" Ziva said as she glanced out Jenny's window and onto the balcony. The redhead glanced over at the woman and nodded. She was glad that there were people out there who truly cared about her.

* * *

"You want the car?" Tony asked her blatantly. Jenny sent DiNozzo a scowl back. "Yup… You want the car." The redhead happily took the keys from Tony's hand and began to walk across the road. She needed to get away from this place as possible…

The funeral was to be expected. Sad. Heart-breaking. Devastating. The worst part of it all was that Jenny knew who was behind it all. Part of her wished that Jethro had chosen to come with her, she had never understood how he could be so stoic, and poker faced during these sort of situations- showing no hint of an emotion at all. Then there was her, bawling her eyes out in the corner of the church.

Waddling into the car, Jenny winced as she felt a small ache in her lower back. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breathes in and out. It was a little odd, she had only noticed the pains during the funeral, but just assumed that they were a part of the practice contractions her doctor had told her about. After the pain subsided a few seconds later, Jenny pulled her cell phone out of her handbag and dialled a number.

The phone seemed to ring for ages before the person she needed to talk to picked up. "Yup." The familiar gruff voice spat through the phone.

"Where are you?" Jenny asked seriously.

"Motel a few blocks from here… You know which one." The gruff voice replied back. Jenny nodded and ended the call- throwing her cell phone on the passenger seat. It was time to end all of this.

* * *

Mike Franks wasn't expecting to see the director of NCIS look so… Massive. That was the first thought that came to his mind as he saw her waddle out of the car. If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that the expression on her face yelled pain. Jenny sent the guy a dark glare when he kept staring at her.

"Something bothering you?" Jenny asked dismissing the obvious. Franks leaned against the back wall of the motel with a bottle of whiskey in his hand and pretended to look in other directions- that old ruse couldn't fool Jenny though.

"Just a few things… Didn't know you- "

"Gained a little weight?" Jenny said sarcastically. "I didn't call you out here to discuss my pregnancy… I called you out because I need your help with something." Jenny spat getting directly to the point.

Franks opened the lid of whiskey in his hand and took a swig. "Better not be about running the agency…" He spat gruffly. The redhead sent Franks her natural resting bitch face.

"Inside…" Jenny whispered as she pointed to the room. Mike followed her inside to the room that Franks had rented for himself, she placed her handbag on the table and sat down- brushing away the cigarette butts and ashes left on the table.

"What's this about?"

Jenny looked to the side of the room and bit the inside of her cheek. "First of all, let me clarify something… Nobody else needs to know about this."

Franks looked at her oddly. "Just get to the point…" He said impatiently.

"A few months ago, I received pictures from a crime scene that involved a little girl…" Jenny felt another twinge of pain in her lower back but fought through it. "No name. No letter. Just pictures." Franks noticed the slightly pained expression on her face.

"You in labour or something?" Mike said jokingly. Jenny shook her head and rubbed her back gently.

"It's probably just from being cramped on the plane for ages yesterday…" Jenny stated. The pain eased and Jenny continued. "A few weeks ago, I received a white box with a gold necklace inside of it… Again, no note, no name. Just the box."

"You have an admirer…" Franks stated- causing Jenny to snort.

"An admirer…" Jenny muttered to herself. She was anything but… "This 'admirer' is someone who hates me… I made a huge mistake on one of our ops in Europe about nine years ago."

"What was the op?" Jenny sent a glassy expression towards Franks. This was the other part of today that she was dreading. She didn't really want Franks to know about the op, but she felt that she didn't really have any other choice. What was really bugging her was that she didn't want to get Gibbs involved. She knew Svetlana was around in the city somewhere, it was all a matter of finding her.

"Classified…" Jenny whispered. She watched as Mike stood up and began to pick up all of his belongings. "Wait…" Franks paused what he was doing and glared back at the redhead. "If I don't do this today… People are going to die." Jenny said seriously, smoothing her hand over her swollen stomach. The baby was kicking, she could feel his or her feet jabbing away at her hand.

Franks sat back down at the table- taking another swig of his whiskey and not breaking eye contact with the woman. "Jethro is in danger…" The expression on Mikes face sobered and Jenny knew that he had his full attention. "I need your help finding a woman…"

The man snorted and raised his eyebrows. "Well… That shouldn't be too difficult. Plenty to choose from."

Jenny looked at the man seriously. "Svetlana Chernitskaya." Franks took out his notebook and a pen and jotted the name down.

"Russian…" He stated as he glanced at the name. "Russian women were always a jerk to me." Mike put the pen down and stared at the redhead oddly. "Why are you asking me to do this?"

Jenny took a deep breath and linked her hands together on the table. "I need someone from outside the agency who knows what they're doing…"

"You gonna tell me what you did to her?"

"All you need to know is that she's dangerous. She killed Agent William Decker… Made it look like a heart attack." Jenny looked down at her hands and closed her eyes, holding back the tears as she thought about her late friend.

"Well where do we start?"

Jenny made eye contact with Mike's hazel eyes and sighed. "That's a good question."

* * *

"Something seems off Tony…" Ziva stated as they waited in the standstill of LA traffic in the flash red car that Tony had rented. Tony- who had changed from his grey suit to a dashiki shirt, sat in the driver's seat of the car listening to the country rock music loudly. Ziva turned the stereo right down so that nothing could be heard.

"Hey!" Tony scowled at her. He turned the music back up to the volume it was at, only for Ziva to turn it all the way back down to nothing again.

"Are you even listening to me Tony?" Ziva snapped. He glanced over at his reflection coming off her sunglasses. He couldn't see her eyes but could tell that fire was radiating out of them.

"No. I was listening to LA music… Gotta love LA music." Tony said intentionally pissing the other agent off. Ziva huffed and rolled her eyes. Whose idea was it anyway to go to the beach? She was perfectly happy sitting by the pool at the hotel reading her book- until Tony came along.

"Don't tell me that this whole situation doesn't feel off to you…" Ziva asked Tony with a hint of anger coming through.

"What? The director letting us take the day off. How does that feel off?" Tony said moving the car forward a little in the traffic.

"I just… Don't have a good feeling." Ziva said waving her hand in front of her face trying to cool down. She should have put on sunscreen when she left the hotel- that was something she should have known better to do coming from the middle east.

"Relax Ziva. Its California! She's probably just doing some shopping… You know how much the director loves to shop." Tony said trying to quiet down the whole situation. He was adamant that Jenny was fine. For all he knew she was probably in one of the malls shopping to her hearts content.

"Shopping? How could she be shopping Tony? She can barely walk a decent distance without having to sit down…" Ziva retorted back. It just didn't make sense to her. It was her duty to protect Jenny and Gibbs swore that if they let her out of their sight that they would face uncertain consequences regarding their jobs. And that wasn't something that Ziva planned on enduring.

Tony contemplated the comment for a moment. "She's probably meeting up with a friend or something. LA is a massive city Ziva… Director has a lot of contacts."

"She is also a high-risk target… Especially being pregnant." Ziva leant her head back in the seat and closed her eyes. This whole situation of her letting her get in the car on her own was not a good idea. "Give me your phone…"

The man glanced over at Ziva weirdly. "Why?"

"Just give me it Tony!" the woman snapped. Tony recoiled a little in his seat and obeyed the woman's request. There were some things he did and didn't push with Ziva. Questioning her decisions were situations where he had to make sure he was biting his tongue to prevent physical abuse from the woman.

Ziva dialled Jenny's number and waited for her to pick up the phone. She was so jealous of Tony's phone. It had a much better signal than hers did. After the seventh ring, the director finally picked up the phone.

"What do you want DiNozzo…" Jenny said sarcastically. Ziva felt relieve that the director seemed to be okay but could sense that something else was 'off' about her.

"Director, where are you?" Ziva asked very seriously. The background noise on the other side of the phone sounded a little scratchy- like she was in a place with poor reception.

"Ziva, I told you to take the day off." Ziva rolled her eyes at the deflection of the question. It was obvious that she wanted to be left alone.

"Yes well… We were assigned by Gibbs to protect you Director. What if something happens to you and we don't know where you are?" Ziva tried to say calmly. All she wanted was for Jenny to be okay.

"I guess that's my problem then, isn't it? There's no need to worry Ziva. I'm fine. I'll meet you at the airport tomorrow morning."

"Jenny- "The phone line died and all Ziva could hear was crackling on the other side. "She hung up on me." She stated in disbelief. She thought that she could be someone that Jenny could trust. Someone that she could open up to. But that didn't seem to be the case.

"What did I tell you Ziva… Everything is AOK." Tony said happily as he began to turn back up the music. Ziva slapped his hand, causing him to wince a little. He immediately turned the volume back down.

"Can't you see that we are stuck here in LA traffic! All I want to do is listen to music!" Tony snapped. Ziva chose to ignore the little temper tantrum and put the phone down in her lap.

"It doesn't seem right… She didn't reveal her location. Did you notice Jenny looked like she was in pain during the funeral?" Ziva said turning to the man in the driver seat. She noticed his hands were clutching the wheel tightly. He was getting frustrated.

"She's pregnant Ziva… Every pregnant women is in some sort of pain." Tony said simply- not wanting to elaborate further.

The truth was that he also did feel a little bit odd about the situation. But it wasn't unusual, he had seen her go off the radar for a few hours whenever she was on conference or some sort of vacation during her time as director. He had always just assumed that the woman needed her privacy and simply didn't want to be observed. That was a fair enough excuse in his opinion.

"Well the difference here is that Jenny doesn't usually show pain… And… She is close to her due date Tony. I have every reason to worry about her."

That was another pressing issue on Ziva's mind. She knew full well how pregnancies worked. Some babies happened to be born late- yes- but babies also happened to be born early. Jenny could have been anywhere in the city potentially in labour and it was getting on Ziva's nerves.

"She probably just was sitting for too long… You know what those sorts of chairs can do to your back." Tony shuddered at the memory of having to sit at pews in the church when he was a young boy.

"That's not a good enough excuse." Ziva reprimanded. She grabbed hold of Tony's phone again and found McGee's number on the speed dial list. Tony glanced over and shook his head.

"Uh-uh. Not happening." Tony said seriously, he reached over to snatch the phone out of Ziva's hand, but she recoiled and held the phone out over the window. The last thing that Tony needed was a broken phone, so he leant back in his seat and let the woman do what she needed do.

"All I want to know are her co-ordinates. I'll stop asking once I know where she is." Ziva said as she held up the phone in front of her and Tony. McGee picked up after a couple rings.

"Tony?"

"McGee… I need you to do us a favour." Ziva said as calmly as she could. "We need you to track the Directors cell phone." On the other side of the phone, McGee couldn't help but smirk.

"Lost the director, have you?" He asked sarcastically. It would have been gold if Gibbs happened to be in the room. He would have gone off his nuts.

"We have not McGee. She ordered us to take the day off." Tony said a little angrily. There was nothing he hated more than being ridiculed by the probie.

"Of course, she would of." McGee said simply. He stuck the phone on his shoulder and leant his head on top of it as he began to type Jenny's cell phone number into his computer.

"You got anything?" Ziva asked impatiently. Tony just scowled at the woman, she really needed to just take a chill pill.

"Hang on… Triangulating cell towers. Narrowing down search fields. Got it. Last known location is state highway 14 heading north east into the Mojave Desert." McGee said over the phone. Ziva removed her sunglasses and looked at Tony with a look of fear in her eyes. This whole situation didn't look good.

"Thanks McGee." Ziva said as she hung up. She scoffed and sent a chilling glare towards DiNozzo. "Shopping Tony?" She asked him sarcastically.

"Who's she doing there?" Tony asked non-chalantly. Ziva slapped him on the shoulder- causing the man to recoil in pain.

"Watch your mouth! She's pregnant, has a partner." Ziva said offended. "Not to mention that she is halfway into the Mojave Desert! Can we get out of this traffic somehow?"

"Does it look like we can get out Ziva?" Tony asked her blatantly. Ziva was half tempted to walk out of the car, she'd run to the Mojave Desert if she had to.

"Tony… We need to focus. What the hell is she doing there?"

Tony shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "People go out into the desert all the time…"

"To do what? Harvest cacti?" Ziva asked in disbelief.

"Maybe she wants a tan…" Tony concluded, not being able to figure out any other reasonable excuse for travelling out of town.

"If she wanted a tan, she would have gone to the beach." Ziva snarked. "Don't you see it Tony? She is hiding something from us. Jenny came out here to do something completely off the grid…" Tony contemplated the theory for a moment but didn't say anything. He'd hate to think it, but Ziva was right. That didn't seem normal. "Turn the car on."

"What?"

"I said turn it on." Ziva demanded getting impatient. "Start driving."

"Ziva, let's just hold our horses for a minute okay?" Tony said trying to calm down the agent.

"Hold our horses? Tony… The director we have been assigned to protect has gone off the grid and is somewhere in the desert. She could be doing anything, she could be in labour, someone could have shot her." Ziva rambled on. The traffic was beginning to move properly again.

"You think we should tell Gibbs?" Ziva took a deep breath and looked out the window.

"It's not a call I want to make…"

* * *

Jenny leant her head back in the passenger seat of the car and winced as a surge of pain enveloped her spine and lower abdomen. The pain had been getting worse and worse over the course of the afternoon- which was something she really didn't need. She didn't know if she was in labour or not… She probably was and she was just refusing to admit it.

From the driver's seat, Mike had been glancing over at the redhead occasionally- making sure that she was still alive and well. From the looks of things, she seemed to be getting worse and worse every time the man looked at her. "You look like you're in pain."

Jenny shook her head and leaned her head against the window. To top things up for her, she happened to be in the middle of the desert- trying to find an abandoned diner, with no supplies or resources with her. All she had was a phone and Mike Franks to contend with. "It's nothing…"

Mike turned back to the steering wheel and let out a harsh breath. What was it with women and their stubbornness? Why couldn't they just admit that they were in pain and needed help? "I'm no doctor, but I know how to recognise when someone's uncomfortable."

The pain began to ease away- allowing Jenny to slow down her breathing and open her eyes again. The light souring into the car hurt her eyes. All she really craved right now was to just lie down and sleep, but she couldn't really do that. Not with Svetlana on the loose. "They are just practice contractions. I'd think I'd know if I was actually in labour." Jenny said with a little uncertainty.

Mike picked up on this and internally cursed himself for being coerced into a bad situation with a woman who he was pretty sure was in the early stages of labour. "Who's the baby daddy?"

Jenny rolled her eyes and couldn't help but laugh. Of course, he wanted to dig his nose in. She was actually surprised that Franks was one of the last people to find out about her pregnancy. Then again, she never intended on announcing it to the entire world. But she would have thought though that Jethro would have told one of his closest friends. "That's need to know. And you don't need to know."

The man scoffed and fumbled in one of his pockets for a packet of cigarettes. "Suit yourself." He found one, pulled it out of the packet and slipped it into his mouth. "We gettin close to this diner or what?" Jenny picked up the map laying down in her lap.

"They'll be a left turn in a couple of miles. Take it." She said sharply. Mike lit the cigarette and tried to breathe the smoke out the window. It probably wasn't good practice smoking around a pregnant woman, but who was he to care? This whole situation was getting more stressful for him every second they got closer to this diner.

"How do we know that we aren't going to be walking into an ambush?"

Jenny rolled down her window and threw her hand out the side whilst her other hand fell down upon her swollen stomach. She was boiling. "Decker knew there was always a chance this op could come back to haunt us… He wasn't going to take the risk of keeping an insurance policy in the city." She said as calmly as she could.

"That don't mean that there are gonna be people waiting there for us…" Mike said in a serious tone.

"It means that not many people know about it…" Jenny retorted.

"Not even your Russian friend?"

Jenny bit down on her bottom lip and cursed herself internally. If only she had killed this chick when she was supposed to, she wouldn't be in this mess right now. But if it meant the safety of her family, she'd do anything to stop it. "I guess that's a chance I'm willing to take…"

Another 20 minutes later, the car finally pulled up to the old abandoned diner. There didn't seem to be any other visible cars around, but that didn't mean that nobody was in the diner. "There it is… Looks like a beauty don't it?" Franks stated as he switched off the engine. The quietest sounds of whimpering filled the car as Jenny held her stomach in pain. "Okay… Aint it a little concerning that this pain keeps on reoccurring?"

Jenny took a deep breath and counted down internally from 10. She hated this. She hated all of it. "Let's just get into the diner." She whispered in pain. Franks got out of the car and slammed the door shut, before walking around to the other side of the car and helping the redhead get out.

For once in her life, Jenny actually accepted the help. Had it been any other day, she would have bit his head off and told him that she was perfectly capable of opening a door. But the pain was becoming unbearable bit by bit and she was getting to the point where she just didn't care what she or anyone else did any more.

She grabbed hold of Mike's hand and pushed herself out of the car- much to her body's dismay. Mike noticed her obvious discomfort and began to put a hand on her back but decided against it at the last second. It would be better for the both of them if he didn't invade her personal space.

He glanced around at the place. Smashed windows, broken blinds… Unlocked doors. What the hell were they getting themselves into? "So much for being a diner. Who even used this anyway?" He asked gruffly.

The pain in Jenny's back subsided, she put her hands on the back of her hips and observed the place. "Shut down about 2 years ago. Financial issues." She said tiredly.

"Got a head around here somewhere?" Mike asked. He spotted a bush just around the back of the diner. "I'll be back." Jenny nodded and slowly made her way into the diner.

Her eyes were still adjusted to the harsh sunlight outside, so when she walked inside all she could see was darkness. Blinking away the odd shapes and blobs she saw in her eyes, the room finally revealed itself. It actually seemed relatively clean compared to what it looked like outside of the diner. Each table had a sprinkle of dust and most of the chairs were stacked upside down upon the tables.

Jenny spotted some photographs of Decker and various other people hanging up on the opposite side of the wall. She waddled over and took a chair down from one of the tables and sat down- relieving her aching back for a moment. She squinted her eyes and flashed back to memories of Europe. She remembered working with Jethro, trying to decode and reassemble codes of numbers.

Mike walked in from the back of the diner abruptly- startling Jenny. She rolled her eyes and refocused her attention to the photographs. "All these dates are wrong…" She stood up and grabbed one of the photographs off of the wall. "Williams 30th birthday party 4th march."

Mike followed suit and took off another photograph from the wall and placed it on the table. "Retirement party 07." Jenny's face turned white as a ghost as she looked at Mike. Whatever was happening to her, she didn't want to look down. "What's wrong?" Mike asked with a little concern.

Jenny closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She could feel fluid travelling down her pants. "We've got a problem…" She said a little breathlessly. Mike looked down to her damp pants and then to the puddle forming on the floor. Either she had wet herself or something else was happening altogether… And he was willing to bet that she had a way stronger bladder than what he was seeing.

"Oh okay… Just… Just… Sit down, here we go." Mike said as he helped guide the woman into the chair. Jenny tried as best she could to slow down her breathing, but it was difficult…

"This can't be happening now… No! NO!" Jenny screamed into the diner. Her hands travelled to her lower stomach as what she assumed to be a 'real contraction' enveloped her lower stomach. She moaned in severe pain as her back tightened. It was so painful…

"Just relax…" Mike tried to say calmly. He was pretty sure that she could hear the panic in his voice, but Jenny was speechless for words. First the funeral, and now she was quite certain she was in labour. She felt so gross feeling more and more fluid travelling down her legs. It wasn't stopping and she couldn't control it. She began to panic- tears flowed down her cheeks.

"I should have listened to Jethro." She said tearfully. For once in her life, she wanted nothing more than to be at home in her bed. Or better yet, be in the hospital where people who knew what they were doing could help her. Her hand travelled to her forehead, rubbing it back and forth- trying to get rid of the serious headache that was forming.

"Jethro?" Mike said taking a step back. There was no way… Wait what? "You don't mean to say that he's the daddy?" Jenny chose to ignore the comment and didn't say anything which seemed to answer Mike's question. He was going to find out about it either way, so why bother hiding who the father was any longer. "Good job gunny. Bout time he moved on."

Jenny winced in severe pain and wrapped her arms tightly around her chest. "Not now… Please God… Not now." She begged. She wanted Jethro here so desperately. All she craved was his arms around her. Never in her life, had she felt so damn uncomfortable and she didn't particularly want to undress in front of Franks.

"You want me to call an ambulance?" Mike asked as he sat on the table above Jenny. The redhead shook her head and bit the inside of her cheek. This was all just a huge mistake…

"No… She has to be coming here… She has to know where I am. She's a stalker. This all ends here." She said determined and breathless. She rubbed her aching belly soothingly and closed her eyes- hoping that it was all just a bad nightmare. Unfortunately, it wasn't… This was real life…

"What about your kid?" Franks asked getting real concerned for the woman. Jethro was gonna kill him when he realised that he didn't get the help that Jenny desperately needed. What if she bled out? Or something else happened? He just wasn't prepared for this…

"Let's just hope that it stays in for a little longer…" Jenny said seriously scared.

* * *

Franks had managed to coerce the redhead to lie down behind the counter, so here she was lying down on the ground, with no pants on- only in her soaked underwear- waiting for Svetlana or somebody to show up.

She had heard that labour could take up to a few days, but she also knew how fast it could be for some women. Jenny didn't want to really think about it, she just hoped that she was one of those women that took ages to labour because quite frankly, she didn't want to give birth in the middle of the damn desert.

Jethro was going to kill her when he found out what happened. It scared and relieved her all at the same time. Relieved because she knew that all this would finally be over. Scared because Jethro would never trust her again… That was the part that truly terrified her. And it wasn't something she needed so soon after having a kid. But it was her own fault… And she needed to face the consequences.

The phone next to her rang. It was Tony's caller ID but somehow, she knew that it'd be Ziva. She answered the phone with ire. "This better be world war three Ziva!"

Ziva was a little taken aback by the harsh voice on the other side of the line. It was typical for Jenny to get pissed at people, but this was… Something else. Something not good. "Woah… Jenny. Are you okay? Tell me you are okay!" Ziva demanded through the line. Her heart was racing, and she could hear Jenny breathless and wincing.

"No… I am not perfectly okay…" Jenny snapped back. She squinted her eyes- trying to hold back the tears but failed.

"Are you in labour?" Ziva asked more calmly.

"No… Yes… I don't know. My water has broken…" Jenny ranted. Part of her was actually glad that Ziva cared about her enough to call and ask how she was doing, but the other part simply didn't want her to see her the way she was. It was bad enough Franks walking around pretending he wasn't traumatised by her underwear.

"You need to tell me where you are right now! We can help you!" Ziva said seriously through the phone. She was more worried about what Gibbs was going to say to them once he found out what had happened with Jenny.

"No! She'll kill you. She'll kill all of us." Ziva opened her mouth confused, but then realised that this was all personal for Jenny… She was trying to take out the stalker herself. Why did she have to make things so damn complicated for herself?

"This is about the stalker isn't it?" Ziva asked. She heard no reply from the other side of the line so assumed that she was correct in her assumption. "Jenny… Tell me where you are right now!" Ziva snapped. This wasn't just about protecting the director… This was a matter of life and death. Something that Ziva wasn't about to mess with.

Jenny contemplated her answer, she wasn't exactly happy that she was in labour, but she couldn't deny that she needed help. There was a huge part of her that wanted to live to see her child. To see Jethro again… She knew that Ziva could help her. "A diner just off the highway of the Mojave Desert..."

Ziva nodded and motioned for Tony to speed up. They weren't far… They'd be there within the next 20 minutes. "Just hang in there, we'll be there as soon as we can." Ziva hung up and immediately called an ambulance. There was no way that they would be delivering a baby without some sort of complication.

Jenny chucked the phone next to her and rolled over onto her side breathless. "This pain…" She muttered tiredly. 'I'm never getting pregnant again…"

Mike who was sitting on a table watching the woman nodded his head. "They'll all say that and don't live up to it…" He muttered. "You know what you're having?"

Jenny closed her eyes and shook her head as another contraction began to rattle her body. "No idea."

"WHAT?" Jethro barked into the phone. Ziva took in a deep breath- ready to hear the wrath of Gibbs' tyrant. "ZIVA! I told you to not let her out of your sight did I not?" Jethro muttered angrily as he shoved some clothes in a backpack.

It was officially happening… Jenny was in labour. And he wasn't there with her… A surge of anger mixed in with guilt and excitement bounded through his body all at once. This was all a bad mistake… Why didn't he order her to stay at home? Ziva recoiled as she heard the sound of a head slap in the background of the phone.

"She's going to be okay Gibbs…" Ziva tried to reassure him. Although she wasn't too sure of that herself. According to the emergency services the ambulance was meant to be arriving with the next half an hour- she didn't even properly know what Jenny was doing out there anyway.

Jethro shook his head and sat down on the bed- breathing heavily. He was usually so calm about these sort of situations, but now his head was just all over the place. He should have seen it, he should have seen that Jen was after the stalker and knowing her, she wanted to take who ever it was down on her own.

"I don't…" Jethro was cut off from words as the whole reality of the situation dawned on him. Here he was sitting in his house in DC about to be a father again while his 'partner' was on the other side of the country labouring in the Mojave Desert… As far as he knew, there were no supplies ready for baby- Jenny probably assumed that she'd be back in DC by the time she went into labour.

He just felt sick to his stomach… This wasn't fair on anyone. He felt angry at Jenny, he felt angry at Tony and Ziva, he felt hopeless and ashamed of himself for letting her get on that plane. But most of all he felt sorry for his baby who was going to be born… The baby who he might not get to meet on time.

"Gibbs?" Ziva asked worryingly as she heard nothing but sighs and heavy breathing. Jethro picked up the phone again and held it to his ear.

"Just make sure they're okay…" Jethro spoke as he thought about his baby. He hung up and sat on the bed for a minute longer- taking the whole situation in. He slapped the back of his head again. He promised Jenny that he'd be there for her when the time came. He promised that he'd guide her through it and be there every single moment of the way.

Now he couldn't even think about her without boiling into a rage, and that's all he could think about. What was going to happen? How did she even know who the stalker is? Jethro got up, zipped up the backpack and flipped it over his back and walked down the stairs. He slammed the front door on his way out- not bothering to lock it- and got into his car.

He found Jenny's number on speed dial, his hand hovered over her name for a second before he pressed it and held it to his ear. He had no idea what he was going to say to her… He didn't know if what he said to her was going to be anger, rage, comfort, excitement or nothing…

Jenny glanced down at the phone vibrating on the ground… She sighed. She should've known that Ziva would call Gibbs. Picking it up, she glanced at his name flashing. She couldn't just blow him off and pretend that she was busy. He knew full well that she was in labour. "Here goes nothing…" Jenny muttered to herself as she clicked answer.

"Jethro?" She answered tiredly. She felt prepared for whatever he shot her way. She could already tell by the heavy breathing that he was angry and frustrated. And it was all her fault…

Jethro felt an intense sigh of relief as he heard her voice. She sounded tired and weary, but just to know that she was still alive and fighting through it all sent a surge of pride through him. "You Okay?" He asked her simply.

Jenny let a tear slide down her cheek. He wasn't talking her head off- that was a good sign. She shook her head and whimpered as an ache enveloped her spinal cord. "I just want you here Jethro…" She said terrified as her lips pursed together in an effort not to completely lose herself. "You were right… I should never have come out here…"

Jethro clutched the steering wheel tightly as she spoke, all he craved was to be there with her and hold her. That's all he wanted to do. He didn't care about anything else in the world. He just wanted to be with her. "Its not your fault Jen…"

"Its not my fault?" Jenny repeated in disbelief. "I made a terrible mistake Jethro… How could it not be my fault?" The woman spat in anger. This whole situation was her fault.

"Because I let you get on that plane…" Jethro retorted. "When I knew that you should have been resting at home… Not being stressed out by this all…"

The woman shook her head and furrowed her brow as the pain began to intensify. She felt like her entire stomach was simultaneously being stretched and squeezed all at the same time. "Jen?" Jethro asked concerned when her breathing began to increase.

"Just… Give me a minute." Jenny said as she tried to slow down her breathing. Her other hand caressed her stomach- as if it would loosen up the tightness.

"Okay hey… Just listen to the sound of my voice okay?" Jethro said as he heard Jenny whimpering. Jenny nodded her head and focused on Jethro. "It's alright… Just a contraction. It will pass in a minute…"

The redhead began to relax a little as the pain began to ease, just hearing the sound of his voice soothed her. "Jethro… I need you…" Jenny begged through the phone- pulling at Jethro's heartstrings. It sucked that the flight took 5 hours to get there, then there was going through security and having to hire a car and driving to the hospital. Jethro was panicking that he wouldn't get there in time.

"I know Jen…" He whispered back.

"Stay on the phone with me…" Jenny whispered- tears fully evacuating her eyes.

"Ziva's called an ambulance for you… They're going to get you to the hospital nice and safely okay?" Jenny nodded and brushed wisps of her hair out of her face.

"I'm so sorry Jethro!" Jenny said abruptly causing her to go into a full meltdown mode. Even Mike- who was keeping an eye on any activity outside the diner- winced at how much pain Jenny was in.

"Jen… Shhh." Jethro whispered on the phone- desperately wanting her to calm down. The last thing that the both of them needed was for the baby to come early. It needed to stay in for as long as possible. "Just focus on your breathing…" Jethro inhaled and exhaled, and Jenny followed suit- trying to match up her breathes with Jethro's.

"Find the stalker Jethro…" He nodded and took a deep breath. He wasn't interested in the stalker currently… He was interested in Jenny's safety.

"Don't worry about the stalker… Just worry about yourself…" Jethro said calmly. Jenny nodded and watched as Mike pulled his gun out from his ankle slot.

"Don't worry… Just ya friends." Mike said visibly relaxing as Tony and Ziva raced into the diner. Jenny breathed heavily into the phone.

"Tony and Ziva are here…" Jenny whispered. Jethro's heart began to slow down. At least she was safe having those two there.

"Ziva is in charge of you okay? Whatever she says you'll do…" Jethro demanded through the phone. Jenny hadn't the energy to argue and nodded. "I love you Jen…"

"OH Jethro… Just get here as fast as you can!" Jenny said desperately through the phone. She hung up and waited for the next contraction to shatter her body.

* * *

A/N: YAY! Jenny is finally in labour! I was originally planning on having the kid born in this chapter, but as you know I was already lagging behind in uploading so you guys will finally be able to meet the baby in the next chapter, which shouldn't take too long to upload. I will be writing small snippets of the next chapter each night instead of just smashing it all out in one week.

I can't wait for you guys to meet the baby, I already have the gender picked out and I haven't quite decided on a name yet, but you guys will know in the next chapter.

Again... Sorry about the lateness. I have been enveloped currently writing a criminal minds story, so my mind has been there more than it has for this story. Thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed this chap.


	8. Selfish

A/N: Okay, first of all there are going to be a few changes to this story from now on. The first thing is that I will be writing the chapters a lot shorter than they have been in the past chapters. This is because aiming to write 8,000 ish words each chapter is actually quite exhausting and its part of the reason why these chapters have been coming out late.

So they will be around 3,000 words per chapter from now on, depending on how much I want to write in that particular chapter. This will also mean that the chapters should be coming out more quickly and you guys won't have to wait as long.

Thanks guys for all of your understanding and your support! Keep leaving those reviews and I hope you enjoy meeting this baby!

* * *

Ziva sat on one of those sofas every hospital had that were designed to be 'comfy', but all she felt were the sharp pieces of wood trying to dig into her back through the material. Her foot tapped lightly on the floor as she watched Jenny like a hawk-who was lying in the hospital bed finally asleep.

Her hair was bundled all over the pillow and her hands were clasping the white sheets fervently. It had been a few hours since they had arrived at the hospital, and according to Tony and Mike at the diner, the mystery stalker woman who Jenny was certain was going to show up and blow her brains out still hadn't made an appearance.

Ziva's thoughts were drowned out by the slow beeping from the machines attached to the redhead… Letting out a large sigh, she rubbed her forehead. Had it not been for her gut instincts Jenny could have potentially died… Even though she had Mike Franks there with her, it didn't mean that she had been completely safe from harm. Anything could have happened… And it sent a large swash of guilt parading through Ziva.

All that mattered now was that Jenny and her baby were safe… In a hospital… With Gibbs on the way… And no stalker woman trying to kill them. As soon as the redhead had been taken onto the ambulance, she had begged for an epidural once she arrived at the hospital. It seemed to have done the trick to help cope with the pain.

A nurse quietly knocked on the door and entered- removing the stethoscope from her neck. Ziva watched as the nurse- Stacy her name was- adjusted the IV fluids and checked on the medication being given to Jenny. After being assured by the nurse that Jenny was doing fine, Ziva visibly relaxed and twirled her phone in her hand- not knowing what else she could do with herself.

Part of her wanted to get a packet of crisps from the vending machine down the hall, but she didn't want to leave Jenny's room even for a moment. Whoever this stalker woman was hadn't completely disappeared and she could have been anywhere- including the hospital. Ziva had a rough idea of who the woman was thanks to her mini interrogation in the ambulance, she knew that she was a blonde Russian named Svetlana, but that was it.

The phone in her hand started vibrating and Ziva immediately answered seeing that it was Abby. All of a sudden Ziva was being bombarded with questions. "IS SHE OKAY? IS THE BABY HERE YET? OH… DID SHE BRING THOSE CUTE LITTLE PANTS THAT I GOT FOR THE BABY?" She had to remove the phone a few centimetres away from her ear, just so that her eardrums could interpret what she was saying without being deafened to death.

"ABBY!" Ziva whispered sharply- trying not to wake up the patient sleeping a few metres away. "Everything is fine." She answered in a calmer tone.

In the back of her mind she knew that things were far from fine, but she figured that Abby didn't need to be any more stressed out than she already was.

"OH… OH… That's good." Abby stuttered as she paced around in her lab. "I've been worried sick Ziva! When McGee came down to the lab a few hours earlier I knew that something was wrong. He wouldn't just come down all panicked without something concerning the rest of the team." She rambled on.

Ziva rolled her eyes. Of course, McGee would have come down to Abby after they asked him to track where the director was. "SO, how is she?" Abby asked nervously.

"Sleeping." Ziva answered.

"NO BABY?" Abby asked panicked. "Oh… that's a relief. I'm so glad that Gibbs isn't there yet. I'd feel so bad if he arrived and the baby was already born. OH… Ziva. I'm so nervous. I'm so nervous…"

"Your nervous?" Ziva asked in disbelief. "You're not the one about to get into deep soup with Director Vance."

"What if something bad happens? Like Gibbs plane crashes or… Oh Abby… Stop it!" The goth reprimanded herself.

She walked over to her desk and glanced over at the screen to see if the little plane on the screen had moved any closer to the Los Angeles airport. Gibbs' plane was still another 3 hours away, the baby could have been born within the next three hours!

"Okay… You seriously need to calm down." Ziva stated.

"Calm down! How the hell am I supposed to calm down when Baby Gibbs is on the way Ziva! It's like virtually impossible. I have never been more excited for a moment in my life ever! Had it been my way I would have jumped on that plane with Gibbs had I the chance… Ziva, you are so lucky you get to be in the room with her!" Abby exclaimed.

Ziva furrowed her brow and rubbed her eyes whilst Abby rambled on. She would never understand how the young scientist had so much words and sentiment to give in only a matter of 20 seconds. She didn't know what would be worse, sitting in this hospital room watching Jenny sleep or listening to Abby on the phone for the next three to four hours until Gibbs arrived.

"Rather you than me…" Ziva droned as she glanced over at the redhead who was still sleeping. She just hoped Gibbs arrived soon.

The ambulance trip to the hospital was hell for Ziva, she had played rock paper scissors with DiNozzo as to ascertain who would be travelling with Jenny. Unfortunately, Ziva had lost, although the thought of DiNozzo in the ambulance with the Director amused her.

Her hand was squeezed so tight she thought that some of the blood vessels had erupted. If that's what labour was like, then she was never birthing any kids. "Ziva… What should I do? What should I do?"

Forgetting that she was still on the phone with Abby, Ziva shook out of her thoughts. "Abby… Just relax. Seriously. I'll call you if something happens." Ziva said rubbing her forehead.

"You promise?" Abby asked uncertain. Ziva replied yes and hung up the phone before Abby could say anything else. At that moment, Jenny rolled over in the bed and groggily opened her eyes.

"Oh… I'm sorry Jenny did I wake you?" Ziva asked mortified as she stood up and walked over to the bed. Jenny shook her head and squinted her eyes together trying to wake up properly.

"A contraction did… How long was I out for?" Ziva glanced at her watch and then back at the redhead.

"40 minutes… Give or take." Sighing, she looked up towards the ceiling. 40 minutes wasn't bad, but she would have accepted longer. That fact of the matter was that she didn't really know what to do while she waited for Gibbs to arrive- apart from endure the luxuries of labour and shake out of nervousness.

"Any word from the diner?"

"Nothing." Ziva replied back.

"When is Jethro arriving?"

"A few hours." Jenny's eyes squinted together tightly as she tried to roll over in the midst of a contraction, she reached out for Ziva's hand and tried not to squeeze it to tightly. She muttered incomprehensible words under her breathe and started to pant, even with the epidural in place, she could still feel a great deal of pain, but at least it wasn't as bad as it was before.

"Could you tell the pilot to hurry up?" Jenny spat as the contraction ended. "The nurses said that I'm really close to pushing… And I really need Jethro to be here…"

Ziva bit down on the insides of her cheeks and glanced down at her watch. She wished there was at least a television in the room or some sort of book that she could read. It was so boring just having to wait around and not be distracted by something. "Ziva?" The redhead's voice knocked her out of her thoughts. "Are you listening to me?"

"Of course."

"Can you call Gibbs for me?" She shook her head.

"He'll be here in time Jenny… Trust me…" Ziva said crouching down so that she was eye level with Jenny.

"I can't even trust myself at the moment…"

* * *

Gibbs stepped off the plane in a flash and raced down to the exit of the airport, pushing past tourists in his midst. Upon reaching the exit, he saw DiNozzo waiting in some sort of flashy car. "Get out… Let me drive." Gibbs spat- practically pushing DiNozzo into the other seat.

"Are you sure… I mean you just arrived and- "

"Get out DiNozzo before I head slap you!" DiNozzo opened his mouth amazed and then quickly shut it again, before quickly shuffling into the passenger seat of the car. He handed Gibbs the key who slipped it into the ignition and practically accelerated at ten-thousand kilometres out of the pick-up area. DiNozzo had to hold his hands against the dashboard as he didn't even have his seatbelt clicked in yet.

"Gibbs I- "

"Don't start." He snapped back. The last thing he felt like doing right now was to reprimand Tony, all that mattered to him was getting to the hospital.

"Well… I was gonna say to take the next left, but- "

"DiNozzo… What the hell were you thinking! Letting her out of your sight… She's pregnant! Isn't that the reason I sent you and Ziva to go with her?" Gibbs barked. Tony looked straight ahead and bit so tightly on his lips that he drew blood. There it was… There was the Gibbs with ire in his eyes that the team hardly knew.

He chose not to say anything back- knowing full well that he was in the wrong. "She could have died Tony!" The senior field agent looked over and could have sworn that he saw a tear in the corner of Jethro's eye. It was in that moment that he realised how deep Jethro's love for her was. Tony was always joking about it and making bets about them flirting, but they truly had a connection that he had only just seemed to have realised.

"You get an update from Ziva?" He asked after a few moments of silence. Tony rubbed his phone gently in his hands and sighed.

"No baby yet… She just wants you." Gibbs released a breath he didn't know was holding. No words could or would describe the feeling he felt when Tony said those words, if Jenny could keep the baby in for at least another 10 minutes then everything would be okay.

As soon as Jethro pulled up outside the emergency department, he basically fell out of the door- leaving it wide open- and ran over to the elevators, frantically pressing the button. Tony- still in the car- sat there in the passenger seat dumbfounded by what had just happened. And forced a smile back at the weird looks people were giving him from outside the entrance. "Wow…" He whispered to himself before climbing into the driver's seat.

Jenny was feeling the urge to push, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not without Jethro by her side. At that moment he raced in and planted his lips to hers- savouring her taste and being grateful that she was still alive. Jenny didn't resist and leant into his lips but pushed him away when she felt a large and painful contraction grip her entire lower body.

Ziva immediately removed herself from the room as soon as Jethro arrived and couldn't help but muster a small smile. He had made it.

Jethro grabbed Jenny's hand as she screamed in pain and watched as the redhead began to push their baby out. His other hand sneakily travelled behind her back and caressed circles into her spine whilst she leant forward. "Come on Jen…" Jethro whispered to her as she finished pushing for that contraction.

She glanced up at her partner and gazed into his blue eyes- looking nowhere else. "I'm so glad that you're here…" Almost crying, Jenny reached out with her other hand to pull Jethro in for an awkward hug on the bed. He buried his face into the messy wisps of red hair and smelt what he assumed to be cigarette smoke. Since when did Jenny smoke?

It was a question to ask later though… He felt the redhead shiver underneath him and he rubbed his hands over the tops of her arms- feeling the small Goosebumps popped up all over them. He pulled away from Jenny as another contraction seized her and watched her intensely, using his hand as a stress ball. He didn't care that she was squeezing the heck out of it, all that mattered to him was making sure that the majority of her pain was taken out elsewhere.

After hearing encouraging remarks from the doctor and the nurses, Jenny used every ounce of her energy left to give one last final push. She visibly winced in pain as her baby slid out, then felt an overwhelming sense of relief once she heard crying. "Jethro! Jethro! Is it okay?" She asked frantically.

Jethro glanced down at her with the biggest smile Jenny had ever seen on him and leant down to her ear.

"It's a boy…"

Jenny started to cry, then laugh, then uncontrollably shake as the screeching sounds of a new-born baby bounced around the room. She could hear the doctor suctioning fluid out of his nose and watched lovingly as her baby boy was handed to her.

He was wrinkly and grey; his eyes were closed tightly, and he was all slimy. But that didn't stop her from tracing her hand over his tiny button nose that she was quite sure he had inherited from her. The nurses standing around her continued to suction his mouth and nose and dry him off with a towel whilst he continued to cry woe. The tears trapped behind her dam were finally released as she smiled down at her baby.

"Jethro…" Jenny said speechless. There were no words to describe how she felt… All she knew is that she could have died today, she could have lost this little guy in her arms, Jethro would have lost them both… And that was such a hard pill to swallow.

"He's tiny!" Was all that she managed to say.

"He's so beautiful…" Jethro stuttered. Once he was dried off and sent off with the nurses to be weighed and measured and checked over once more, he was handed back to Jenny- both still crying. He was wrapped in a woolly blanket and had a small, yellow hat plopped on his head.

She pulled her baby close to her chest and instinctively started to talk to him- not really knowing what she was saying. Jethro sat on the bed next to her and leaned in so that his head was matched up against the side of hers. As Jenny started to talk and rant on about this and that, the baby began to quiet down and eventually was fast asleep…

Jethro glanced over at Jenny who was sitting there stunned. All of it seemed to have happened so quickly. "I'm a mom?" Jenny asked him uncertain.

"What do you think?"

She looked down at her baby now sleeping peacefully and pursed her lips together. As she reflected on the day and her pregnancy, she felt so stupid. "I can't believe I wanted to miscarry…" She stated very honestly and then burst into tears. Jethro pulled her in for a hug with the baby still in her arms and rubbed her back as she uncontrollably sobbed.

"I was so selfish Jethro! I wasn't thinking about him, I was only thinking about me!" Surprisingly the baby didn't wake up to the sound of her sobbing, so Jenny continued to rant about this and that into Jethro's shoulder. Eventually she pulled away from him and handed him their precious baby boy.

Jethro took him gently and was forced into a flashback of the time that he first met his daughter. He remembered her being just as light as this little boy was if not lighter, but then again, he was born a few weeks earlier. "You just wanted to arrive today for some reason didn't you… Putting your mom and I in a bit of a pickle."

Jenny watched on at the two boys with love in her eyes. "I should never have taken this trip Jethro…" He held up a finger, placed it on her lips and shushed her.

"It doesn't matter Jen… He's here, your safe… What is there to worry about?" Jenny was surprised at how calm and composed Jethro was… If anything, she was expecting him to show up scowling and not wanting to talk to her at all. She seriously thought that today would be the end of their relationship.

"It matters to me…" Jenny lingered, not bothering to continue. She laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes- feeling uneasy, but yet at peace at the same time.

* * *

A/N: He doesn't have a name yet, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve, I am open to suggestions if you guys him to have a certain name. Anyway, Thanks again guys! With this new change, I shall be having the next chapter up in no time...


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